Your recordings and concert performances have inspired us for decades, and we congratulate you on receiving the 2015 Legend of Live Award.

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Ariana Grande commands listeners to “focus on me,” and fans heard her loud and clear. “Focus,” the lead single from third album Moonlight, due in 2016, roars onto the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 7; launches at No. 5 on the Digital Songs chart with 113,000 downloads sold in the week ending Nov. 5, according to Nielsen Music; and enters at No. 8 on Streaming Songs with 13.3 million irst-week U.S. streams. With “Focus,” her sixth Hot 100 top 10, Grande scores an unprecedented feat: She is the irst artist to debut in the top 10 with the lead single from each of her irst three

albums. Her debut hit, “The Way” (featuring Mac Miller), began at No. 10 on April 13, 2013, introducing her debut LP (and irst Billboard 200 No. 1), Yours Truly. On May 17, 2014, “Problem” (featuring Iggy Azalea) soared in at No. 3, setting the stage for the No. 1 Billboard 200 arrival of My Everything. Meanwhile, atop the Hot 100, Adele reigns for a second week with “Hello.” Despite its 43 percent slide from a record-setting 1.11 million irst-week downloads sold, the ballad moved 635,000 in its second frame, the third-best digital sum ever, falling short of Flo Rida’s “Right Round” (636,000; Feb. 28, 2009) for second place. —GARY TRUST

Before “White Iverson,” you didn’t have cornrows. What has been the reaction to the look? It’s not normal for a white guy to get cornrows; a lot of people judged me. I like the way it looks, so you have to be confident. If you like something, rock it. If you want to rock a —ADELLE PLATON cape every day, go for it.

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S H AW N MENDES Stitches

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The single attracted the attention of Kanye West, with whom you recently collaborated. How did that come about? He sent me a session, so I worked on a song, and when I went back to Los Angeles we

got into the studio together at Rick Rubin’s It was the scariest experience ever. Letting him listen to you record, when he’s sitting over there and can hear you making weird noises — it’s intimidating, but he is such a cool guy.

MACKLEMORE/WARNER BROS.

Peak Position

What was it about NBA star Allen Iverson that inspired you to name your breakout hit “White Iverson”? He was always just the coolest, swaggiest dude. He had the coolest braids, and all the cool gear, and he would just cross up Michael Jordan and step over people. He didn’t care about anything. He had all the sauce, and he just snapped on everybody.

Meghan Trainor scores her third Billboard Hot 100 top 10 (and featured artist John Legend, his second) as “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” rises 13-10. All three of Trainor’s top 10s are from her debut album, Title: Her breakthrough “All About That Bass” spent eight weeks at No. 1, while follow-up “Lips Are Movin” rose to No. 4. Trainor is the first female artist to generate at least three Hot 100 top 10s from a debut set since 2010, when Kesha collected four, including the nineweek No. 1 “Tik Tok,” from her —G.T. debut LP Animal.

AIRPLAY/STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

SKRILLEX,BLOOD (J.BIEBER,J.GUDWIN, S.MOORE,M.TUCKER,T.O.FEEMSTER)

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I’ll Show You

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Justin Bieber

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Title CERTIFICATION

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DATA FOR WE E K OF 1 1 . 21 . 2015

Peak Position

NEW

This Week

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Billboard Hot 100

Contents

“Whoever says I’m a womanizer is a dumbass.” —Ty Dolla Sign

THIS WEEK Volume 127 / No. 35

Clockwise from top left: The Beatles’ Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon in 1963.

FEATU RES 42

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Ty Dolla Sign photographed Oct. 27 at Hudson Terrace in New York. For an exclusive interview and video of Ty spilling just how hard he parties, go to Billboard.com or Billboard.com/ipad.

Greatest Chart All-Stars Billboard reveals the biggest tracks, albums and acts of the past 50-plus years (The Beatles, Adele and... Air Supply?). Plus: Paul McCartney shares the origins of eight Fab Four No. 1s. Next Act Of The Insider’s Outsider As Sara Bareilles embraces her inner theater geek — by penning the songs for the upcoming Broadway musical Waitress — she reflects on sometimes “toxic” pop stardom.

years old, has a scraggly beard and sounds like a cross between George Jones and Otis Redding. To say that Chris Stapleton was the belle of the ball at the Nov. 4 Country Music Association Awards is a vast understatement. Following his galvanizing duet with Justin Timberlake, the Nashville veteran became the day’s top trending search on Google, and then — against all odds — a top-selling album everywhere. Stapleton’s 5-month-old debut album, Traveller,

sold 177,000 copies (including track-equivalent albums) in the week ending Nov. 5 — nearly all of those in the 24-hour period between the duet and the close of Nielsen Music’s reporting period. After Traveller, released in May, seemed to have run its course, Stapleton now has both the irst album and digital track (“Tennessee Whiskey,” performed on the show) ever to reenter the Billboard charts at No. 1. What does his performance — and his three CMA wins, a strong endorsement from the countrymusic establishment — portend for the genre? “Seeing the reaction, you cannot turn a blind eye to it,” says Tracy Gershon, a manager at Red Light (the company that handles Stapleton) who signed

fellow disrupter Miranda Lambert to Sony in 2003. “In country music there’s always this tide that turns, like when Dwight Yoakam or Randy Travis showed up. It shows people are ready again for a more truly country-leaning, meat-on-thebone kind of music.” Stapleton was well-known in the industry before the CMAs, having co-written six previous No. 1s for others, the most recent being Thomas Rhett’s “Crash and Burn.” But can his true-grit sound it in with — much less change — a format largely devoted to giving its mostly female audience a succession of sexy guys who pair tailgating lyrics with hard-rock rifs and hip-hoptinged beats? Reports of the death of “bro country” may be premature.

Photos emerge of Jason Aldean wearing blackface while dressed up as Lil Wayne on Halloween.

Pandora And Sony/ATV Give Peace A Chance With a pact in place between the Internet radio service and the publishing giant, a long cold war begins to thaw BY GLENN PEOPLES and ED CHRISTMAN

T

he licensing agreement between Sony/ATV Music Publishing and Internet radio service Pandora, announced Nov. 4, marked a music industry rarity: Both sides came away happy. Not only did the publisher and the web radio service warm their relationship after years of discord, each got some of the concessions they wanted. In a letter to Sony/ATV songwriters, chairman/ CEO Martin Bandier said the deal will result in “a significant increase” in royalties and will pay songwriters directly — even if a publisher advance has not been recouped. Pandora, meanwhile, was able to lock in rates ahead of possible increases in the near future, while improving its icy relationship with the world’s largest music publisher. A stronger union could ease the way for Pandora’s international expansion: The service is currently available only in the United States (the sole territory covered by the Sony/ATV deal, a source tells Billboard), Australia and New Zealand. To

operate outside the States, Pandora would need licenses from the same rights-holders with whom it has clashed. The agreement also gives Pandora the ability “to add new flexibility to the company’s product offering over time,” although representatives for both companies declined to elaborate. This flexibility could be anything from interactive capabilities — though unlikely, given their high cost — to caching songs for offline listening. While both sides decline to reveal the rate at which Pandora will pay songwriters, a look at some publicly unveiled deals with other major publishers suggest that the service will pay Sony/ATV and its EMI-administered portfolios its pro rata share of 8.5 percent to 10 percent of revenue. Whatever the number, the current deal is seen as a grudging step in the right direction for publishers that long have believed streaming services pay too little in royalties. To wit, David Israelite, president/ CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association, while acknowledging it to be an improvement, adds, “It is far short of the ultimate goal of songwriters and music publishers being paid a free-market rate along with the right to make decisions about the use of their intellectual property.”

TOURING TITANS TOP BILL AT BILLBOARD CONFERENCE

(Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, The Rolling Stones); Vans Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, who will speak about his 20 years at the helm of the longest-running traveling music festival and how it helped break such bands as No Doubt, Blink-182 and Sublime, in addition to his work in

Bob Seger and Brad Paisley will join agents and promoters in New York on Nov. 18 and 19

sustainable and green touring; and Live Nation executive vp/ president of global talent and artist development David Zedeck

Paisley

BY BI LLBOARD STAFF Bob Seger and Brad Paisley are among the artists to take center

will discuss his role overseeing the global touring initiatives for

for a keynote Q&A conducted by

the world’s largest promoter, as

Billboard’s Ray Waddell.

well as his 25 years as an agent

Elsewhere on the schedule: A

representing Justin Timberlake,

stage at the 2015 Billboard

variety of sessions will bring

One Direction, Selena Gomez and

Touring Conference on Nov. 18

together executives and veterans

other artists.

and 19. The annual gathering of

of the live-event industry.

talent buyers, promoters and live

Among them: Jay Marciano, COO

host a discussion with the team

industry insiders, held at New

of Anschutz Entertainment Group

behind The Grateful Dead’s Fare

York’s Roosevelt Hotel, will shine

and chairman of AEG Live, who

Thee Well shows, which raked in

a light on the two touring titans,

will discuss the challenges and

$52.2 million from five dates, as

the former receiving the Legend of

opportunities that the company

well as a case study on newcomer

Live honor and the latter sitting

sees at festivals and key tours

band Echosmith.

The conference also will

I L LU S T R AT I O N BY RYA N S N O O K

PAISLEY: LARRY MARANO/GETTY IMAGES

“Radio isn’t going to walk away from things that are still working for them,” says Mike Dungan, chairman/CEO of Universal Music Group Nashville, label home to Stapleton and CMA entertainer of the year Luke Bryan. “But we’ve been at our best when we widen the format and go way to the left and way to the right at the same time.” Many Nashville insiders look at Stapleton’s CMAs sweep (for album, male vocalist and new artist of the year) as a clear shot across the “bro” bow. “Right now there’s such a backlash. People in town are tired of the truck bed/dirt road/drinking songs,” says manager Craig Dunn (Sara Evans). “The CMA voters were sending a message: ‘It’s time to get back to songs that have a little bit deeper meaning.’ ” Will it take? “It’s so far left of what would it on mainstream radio right now,” says Dunn. “Chris has a brilliant album, but I think he’s going to end up more like Kacey Musgraves, having the great career even if radio doesn’t jump onboard.” But Musgraves hasn’t had a singularly transforming moment like Stapleton’s. In the days following the CMAs, Stapleton’s new single, “Nobody to Blame,” became the second most-added song of the week. And the impact was even more immediate in ticket sales: His upcoming West Coast shows were selling out while the CMAs were still on the air, with tickets on the secondary market ranging from $350 to $500. That demand “is listener behavior,” says Scott Mahalick, Alpha Broadcasting executive vp programming. “How can you not pay attention to that?” Country Radio Hall of Famer Mike Brophey, program director of Boston’s Greater Media, says, “Programmers will want to listen to the next Chris Stapleton song. But the question becomes, ‘Does this song it the station?’ ” One guy who would rather not call this a triumph for any anti-bro movement is Stapleton himself. “Personally, it’s a huge victory,” says the unlikely new star, “but I don’t think it’s squashing someone else’s music or kicking down the door for another kind of music. What it can do,” he concludes, “is show that there’s room for everything.”

arner/Chappell Music celebrated its highest ranking since Billboard began tracking the top publishers’ market share in 2006, but the top spot remained elusive as Sony/ATV increased its lead by nearly two percentage points in the third quarter of 2015, from 19.6 percent to 21.2 percent.* Led by chairman/CEO Martin Bandier, Sony/ATV — which has been the No. 1 publisher since the third quarter of 2012, after it acquired a stake in and took over administration for EMI Music Publishing — saw its share increase even though its total number of titles among the top 100 radio songs slipped to 46 from the previous quarter’s 52. Its top track was the No. 3 song, Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” (featuring Kendrick Lamar). Warner/Chappell came in with a strong

19.6 percent market share, up 0.2 percent from the previous quarter. The company had a stake in 49 of the top 100 tracks including The Weeknd’s No. 1 “Can’t Feel My Face.” Meanwhile, Universal Music Publishing Group tumbled to 10 percent after 11 consecutive quarters of posting market share in the range of 15 percent to 18 percent. Its top song was Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again” (featuring Charlie Puth). SONGS Music Publishing, which also has a share in “Face,” posted 5 percent for the third quarter, its all-time peak and the eighth consecutive quarter the publisher has placed in the top 10. Ultra International Music Publishing returned to the rankings after a five-year absence: It is the only top 10 publisher with a stake in the No. 2 song, OMI’s “Cheerleader.”

MUSIC-BIZ BIBLE OUTLINES NEW REALITIES Lawyer and author Donald Passman on four updates to the ninth edition of his book All You Need to Know About the Music Business

The Weeknd achieves the rare feat of topping two consecutive quarters with different songs.

3. “Freemium” is dragging down premium. The ad-supported freemium model may be a gateway to premium paid subscriptions, but it also drags down per-user revenue. There’s a good reason why Apple and Rhapsody pay more per user to

BY AN DY G E N S LE R

the music industry than Spotify,

Passman published the first edition in 1991.

14 BILLBOARD | NOVEMBER 21, 2015

2. The PRO challenge. While

freemium user base outnumbers paid

business, but it’s being held back.

performance right organizations

subscribers at a rate of 3-to-1.

Growing at a rate of 38.4 percent

ASCAP and BMI saw record revenue

year over year, the old-school

in 2014, Passman says their

4. Et tu, YouTube? Among the

technology moved 5.6 million

model is in trouble as fans move

industry’s most pressing problems:

units in 2015. Vinyl sales would

online, where songs are monetized

unauthorized use of music on

have been even bigger, says

at lower ad rates. And then there’s

YouTube, which the veteran attorney

Passman, if existing vinyl-

the Department of Justice consent

likens to a game of “Whack-a-Mole.”

manufacturing plants were not

decree review. Says Passman:

Writes Passman: “No matter how many

already operating at capacity to

“Hang on to your hats, small

notices they send, the lemmings

meet demand.

children and copyrights.”

keep coming.”

* SOURCE: The rankings measure the market share of publishing administrators and are based on Nielsen Music rankings of the top 100 radio airplay songs for the quarter and song splits compiled by The Harry Fox Agency. Nielsen detected play on 1,582 pop stations and 224 country stations. For the songwriter rankings, the number of spins each song received during the quarter is divided evenly among its songwriters, then the total spins for each top 100 song in which a songwriter has a share are tallied.

THE WEEKND: C FLANIGAN/GETTY IMAGES. PASSMAN: LESTER COHEN

according to Passman: The latter’s 1. Vinyl is a booming part of the

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Aaron Rosenberg The attorney for Justin Bieber, Jennifer Lopez and John Legend on today’s deal-making challenges, handling tabloid attention and why there aren’t more young lawyers getting into music BY SHIRLEY HALPERIN PHOTOGRAPHED BY SCOTT WITTER

W

HEN A CLIENT LIST READS

like the Billboard Hot 100 — Justin Bieber, Jason Derulo, Meghan Trainor, Future, John Legend and Jennifer Lopez, to name a few — one has to wonder: What came irst, the attorney or the hit act? In the case of 38-year-old Aaron Rosenberg, the youngest partner in the history of entertainment irm Myman Greenspan Fineman Fox Rosenberg & Light, the question is often moot, especially with regard to two long-standing clients: Rosenberg had just graduated college when he began representing Legend and took on Bieber when the would-be pop star was 13. To hear Rosenberg tell it, the Kansas City, Mo., native’s music business roots 16 BILLBOARD | NOVEMBER 21, 2015

were planted back at Harvard Law School, where a clinical program called the Recording Artists Project paired law students with aspiring musicians around Boston “to provide legal advice under the supervision of a faculty member,” he explains. “It was literally hands-on training. And being a music lawyer is really about learning by doing.” He had a similar experience as an intern at Arista Records, where he witnessed a changing of the guard from Clive Davis to Antonio “L.A.” Reid in 2000. Rosenberg’s task during the transition: “to summarize all of the existing record deals for the incoming staf — whether it was Toni Braxton or Whitney Houston or Carlos Santana,” he says. “It was an amazing

Today’s artist-label relationship “feels less like us versus them,” says Rosenberg, photographed Oct. 8 with his dog Tucker, a yellow lab, at his home office in Los Angeles.

learning exercise for a young, aspiring music attorney.” A clerkship at Greenberg Traurig followed, along with a move out west in 2004. That was when veteran entertainment attorneys Eric Greenspan (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Seal) and Jeffrey Light (Disturbed, Deftones) recruited Rosenberg, promising to put his name on the door. High-proile clients came along and today Rosenberg inds himself poised for another wild ride with Bieber, whose fourth studio album, Purpose, arrives Nov. 13. In 2012 Rosenberg married Danny Rose, a TV producer whose projects include CBS drama Scorpion and MTV’s Todrick, and the two recently welcomed their irst child, Gabriel, now 10 months old. His birth also fast-tracked the design of a home oice for Rosenberg inside their Hancock Park estate, a move meant to maximize family time. Says Rosenberg of the vibe he was going for when he commissioned Mark Schomisch of MSD Design: “Ivy League reading room meets Hollywood.” In the 13 years that you have been practicing law, what has been the biggest change to the artist-attorneylabel relationship? The movement toward a streaming economy and, God willing, a primarily

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Try for free at g.co/music or tap

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TO P LI N E

paid streaming economy. For artist representatives, the most important thing is knowing where the money is coming from and how to preserve as much of that as possible for your client. That’s not to say artists have to keep it all for themselves. They understand the label is their partner. They’re after two things: transparency and equity — making sure they get their fair share of the pie.

You represent music executives as well — Republic Records executive vp Wendy Goldstein, Columbia Records GM Joel Klaiman and manager Brandon Creed, among them. How do they compare to music stars? They’re no diferent. Creative executives have the soul of an artist — that’s what makes them great at their jobs. Some [executives] are model clients. Others can be diicult and tend to have unrealistic expectations. Your job is to educate about what’s reasonable and what’s not.

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What’s the position of the labels? The rhetoric we hear is, “This is an intense transition; yes, streaming is increasing but not as quickly as we’d like.” Meanwhile, the decrease in physical sales and downloads is accelerating so they’re crying poverty. Is there a solution in sight? The more artists and labels can work together to say streaming and the subscription model is a good thing, fantastic. Valuing music correctly is a good thing. When Taylor Swift put Apple on blast for not understanding how Apple Music is paying the artist for a three-month free trial period, that was an example of saying, “Wait a second — we need transparency and appropriate valuation of music” ... [The labels] are iguring out how to divide the pie. Some things still require tweaking and I know that my friends like [Universal Music Group general counsel] Jeff Harleston are taking a proactive role in trying to ensure new agreements and new ways of accounting put artists’ fears at ease. We’re headed in the right direction. You’re hands-on with clients, recently attending a daylong planning meeting for Lopez’s new Las Vegas show, All I Have. Are music lawyers generally so involved in the creative process? The good ones are. Some are all about the money and even upfront about it. My irst music business experience was with John Legend, somebody I grew up with and was personally invested in, so it can’t be just about the money. Because what happens when it dries up or slows down, you’re not there for your clients? Any number of lawyers would have run for the hills when Justin started getting bad press, and brands questioned what was going on with him, but here’s someone I’m so deeply committed to that you ride along. How did Bieber not turn into Aaron Carter? What went right? I have a speech that I give to clients called the ive F’s to staying grounded in this business: family, faith, friends, fans and the formula. I think for Justin, connecting with all ive F’s, especially with faith, helped him 18 BILLBOARD | NOVEMBER 21, 2015

A complaint of music’s legal community is the lack of young talent. What does the future of music law look like? For a young lawyer to break through, you need a bit of luck in inding clients that [have success]. Then, you need a strong relationship so the [talent] stays with you, because while it would be wonderful to think that poaching clients doesn’t happen, it does. And young lawyers are easy targets. Their clients think, “Gosh, now that I’m more successful, aren’t the deals more complicated and wouldn’t I beneit from someone with years of experience?” I’d say 99.9 percent of the time, the client will buy into that and leave the lawyer.

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through some confusing times. Because nothing prepares you for that much fame — that much everything — so early in life. And musically? I credit Justin himself. People gave him crap for being some sort of prefabricated pop star with no credibility. Never mind that he could play ive instruments and write songs on his own. Justin led a creative team — including [manager] Scooter Braun, producers Josh Gudwin and Poo Bear and Skrillex — that made him comfortable to explore diferent musical directions.

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1 A photograph of Rosenberg’s wedding day. “My husband and I rode down the aisle on a unicorn,” he says. “My father’s reaction is priceless.” 2 Vintage film canisters “add a bit of old Hollywood flair given the historic Hancock Park location,” explains Rosenberg. 3 A Louis Vuitton briefcase was a gift from Jennifer Lopez upon the conclusion of her 2013 tour. 4 Rosenberg displays “keepsakes from various clients’ world tours.”

So they trade up? They trade older. And here’s what I say to clients like that: I get it. You want to walk into a doctor’s oice and see someone who looks like your father or your grandfather. I call it the “gray-haired efect.” And these guys, like Allen Grubman, Joel Katz, Don Passman and Eric Greenspan, are in their mid- to late 60s but haven’t lost a step. It’s not like a professional athlete where a knee gives out. But they’re not me. If artists are looking for a smart attorney they can grow with and have for the rest of their careers, that’s why they hire me. They don’t want to search for another lawyer in ive years. Your clients are often at the center of scandal — Zendaya’s Oscar-night dreadlocks, which E!’s Giuliana Rancic mocked (and later apologized for) on Fashion Police; Bieber’s nude vacation photos. How do you handle it? You get the full information before rushing to a response. At this point with Justin, you learn how to maintain a calm disposition. And to be honest, with the witch hunt surrounding him, I’m surprised photos like that hadn’t come out sooner. But as with anything, we’re investigating a dispute. I have a great partner in Howard Weitzman on the litigation side. Of course, it just reminds you that there’s never a dull moment.

ed sheeran | taylor swift | kenney chesney | eric church

Your Billboard Award Nominations are well deserved.

TO P LI N E

11-09

A L L E N TO U S SA I N T 1 9 3 8 -2 0 1 5 Toussaint, the versatile producer, songwriter, pianist and singer who helped define the sound of soul and R&B in New Orleans and beyond, producing for local talent including Aaron Neville and Lee Dorsey, died of a heart attack following a performance in Madrid. He was 77. Below is an excerpt of an Instagram tribute from The Roots’ Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.

Ruben Mendiola exited his post as president of NBC Universo. Luis Silberwasser, the current president of Telemundo, will take over his responsibilities. Empire’s Jussie Smollett signed with Creative Artists Agency, and UTA will represent the actor-singer for music touring. Pusha T was named president of Def Jam imprint G.O.O.D. Music. Pusha T

PR firm Set to Run Communications, which repped clients including Public Enemy and David Bowie before shuttering in 1992, relaunched under the direction of founder Leyla Turkkan. Swift

Taylor Swift settled with California-based clothing company Blue Sphere, which accused the singer of infringing its “Lucky 13” trademarks in 2014. Terms were not disclosed.

11-10

Apple announced its Apple Music service will be available to Android smartphone users. Pete Yorn signed with Capitol Records.

NOTED

11-05

Universal Music Group appointed Eric Berman to the newly created position of executive vp public affairs.

Charlie Dick, the widower of Patsy Cline and keeper of her legacy, died in his sleep at his Nashville home. He was 81.

Singer Teyana Taylor and NBA star Iman Shumpert announced their engagement on Instagram. Taylor is pregnant with their first child.

20 BILLBOARD | NOVEMBER 28, 2015

Chip Dorsch, a former marketing representative at Red Bull Records, joined the marketing department of Red Light Management in its Nashville office. BIRTHDAYS

The Madison Square Garden Company named Colin Ingram executive vp of MSG Productions.

Man, this hit home. Of all the cats with whom I never had a one-on-one conversation to pick their brain: This is numero uno. I don’t want y’all thinking, “This is just some old legend who passed away.” This dude wrote some of Toussaint your favorite music, and you just didn’t in 1977. know it. He affected so many genres. it affected everyone from Paul That’s how you know how potent and McCartney to Dr. John to The Rolling effective your art is: when you quietly Stones to even Jay Z (“Dear God I change the scene without proper wonder can you save me?” acknowledgment. from “D’Evils” ... That piano Hip-hop heads still salivate loop? Toussaint all day). over all of the Meters tunes he Amerie’s most banging produced. He shot new energy joint, “1 Thing”? A Toussaint into the culture once sampling sample. At least 12 of Dorsey’s James Brown was becoming Questlove “Get Out My Life Woman” stale (“Cissy Strut,” “Look snares were like starch in hip-hop’s Ka Py Py,” “Just Kissed My Baby,” “Oh daily nutritional chart. Calcutta!”). Then came a slew of artists I can go on and on because his work who took his work and breathed new goes on and on. He was a humble cat life into his songs: The Pointer Sisters’ whose work spoke louder than he did. “Yes We Can Can” and Lee Dorsey’s That’s what we all need to learn from. “Working in a Coalmine” — name ’em! Rest in beats to Allen Toussaint. His work was so powerful that

New artist of the year nominee Sam Hunt performed a subdued version of his crossover smash “Take Your Time” at the 49th annual CMA Awards, held Nov. 4 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

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1 Even though the sound cut out during Lauryn Hill’s final song at Fun Fun Fun Fest on Nov. 8 in Austin, she kept on singing. 2 Banks at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan on Nov. 7. 3 From left: Epic Records president Sylvia Rhone, KWL founder/ CEO Kevin Liles and Epic Records chairman/CEO Antonio “L.A.” Reid at Butter in New York, where they celebrated Sean “Diddy” Combs’ 46th birthday.

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THE CMA AWA R D S

4 CMA co-host Carrie Underwood walked the carpet in a tangerine Gauri & Nainika dress but changed an impressive 11 times during the three-hour telecast. 5 From left: Brittney Marie Cole and husband Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line with FGL’s Tyler Hubbard and wife Hayley Stommel hit the WME Budweiser Bash after the award show ended. 6 A rhinestone-covered Kacey Musgraves, who was nominated in three categories including album of the year, performed her current single, “Dime Store Cowgirl.”

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City Of Hope’s Spirit Of Life Gala S A N T A M O N I C A , N O V. 5

THE MUSIC INDUSTRY’S COMMITMENT TO CITY OF HOPE

— the nonproit organization devoted to funding biomedical research, education and treatment centers for lifethreatening diseases — has been unwavering for decades. The 2015 Spirit of Life Gala raised more than $6 million and honored Universal Music Group chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge and a who’s who of music-business power players, including the heads of UMG labels Republic Records (chairman/CEO Monte Lipman and president/COO Avery Lipman), Capitol Music Group (chairman/CEO Steve Barnett), Interscope Gefen A&M (chairman/CEO John Janick), Island Records (president David Massey) and Def Jam Recordings (CEO Steve Bartels). Among the artists who made appearances at the gala, held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and hosted by Nick Cannon, were Selena Gomez, Will.i.am, Smokey Robinson and Jon Bon Jovi. Grainge, who was the subject of a humorous video featuring a number of Universal artists, returned the event to a serious note, thanking his devoted deputies along with his wife and children, whom he described as “my own personal city of hope.” —SHIRLEY HALPERIN 3

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Grainge thanked surprise perform er and UMG sig Smith (pictured nee Sam ), who took the stage for three his hit “Stay Wi songs including th Me,” for “mov ing heaven and the function . “Y earth” to atten ou are a real me d nsch,” said Grain ge.

Congratulations Taylor on your nominations. THE 1989 WORLD TOUR. TOP TOUR AND TOP DRAW. And congratulations to all at 13 for your Top Management nomination. Thank you for eight unforgettable sold-out shows. With love and respect, Barrie, Jenny, Doris and all at Marshall Arts. June 2015

when he took the stage at the 12th annual Black Ball. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” said Twyman. “AIDS is the No. 1 killer of African adolescents. This is why we do what we do.” Co-founded by R&B superstar Alicia Keys in 2003, Keep a Child Alive has raised global awareness about the urgent and unmet need for HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa and has made a direct impact on the lives of more than 300,000 people. Among the 750 attendees to support the cause this year were performers Lion Babe, Wale and Lenny Kravitz. “I [hope] people recognize the power we have to make a diference in people’s lives,” Keys told Billboard. “We don’t have to do big things; we can do a series of very small things that change the world.” It was clear, though, as the last bites of rum cake were consumed at the Hammerstein Ballroom, that Keys remains intent on dreaming big: The evening raised $3.8 million. —LINDSEY SULLIVAN 2

New York, Ty Dolla Sign reminisces about the previous weekend’s hedonism. “I just sat right there at that couch two days ago,” he says, gesturing across the room with a tattooed knuckle. “I had 12 girls sitting around me.” The 30-year-old reclines on a banquette at Hudson Terrace, a currently empty nightclub in Midtown Manhattan. The women in leopard-print boots are gone, as is the Jameson bottle he didn’t fully recover from until after last night’s show at Highline Ballroom, when he inally crashed at his hotel. “I was tired as f—, I’m not going to lie,” he says, feet propped on a black hoverboard.

“I probably had 20 bitches in my room. They texted me in the morning like, ‘So, you do sleep.’ ” Ty Dolla Sign, born Tyrone Griffin Jr., is one of music’s proudest lotharios. The singer-songwriterproducer is a master of indiscreet come-ons delivered via party records — like breakout 2014 single “Paranoid,” which peaked at No. 9 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart — that straddle the bleeding edge between R&B and rap. His sometimes misogynistic bawdiness is accompanied by a wink and an irresistible urge to croon along. He has penned hits for Chris Brown and Trey Songz, collaborated with Charli XCX and recently traveled to Mexico to record a reported nine records

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R&B’S RAUNCHIEST ROMEO

THE PULSE OF MUSIC RIGHT NOW

“I felt like the R&B guys were lying,” says Ty Dolla Sign, photographed Oct. 27 at Hudson Terrace in New York. For an exclusive video of Ty discussing his new album, go to Billboard.com or Billboard.com/ipad.

with Kanye West. On Nov. 13, Ty’s major-label debut, Free TC, will arrive on Wiz Khalifa’s Taylor Gang Records imprint under Atlantic, led by single “Blase” (featuring Future and Rae Sremmurd), which is No. 66 on the Nov. 21 Billboard Hot 100. Ty lacks the Q rating of some of his collaborators, but his impact on pop has been profound. As co-creator, along with producer DJ Mustard and rapper YG, of the ubiquitous “ratchet” sound, his conversational slick-talk has helped make rap more melodic and R&B more lascivious. “I felt like the R&B guys were lying — all the songs were selling dreams to girls,” says Ty. “Then I came out. Now all the R&B dudes are talking about pussy and drugs NOVEM BER 21 , 201 5 | W W W. B ILLBOARD.COM 29

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BY SELMA FONSECA

Jane Is Fonda Miley Jane Fonda is a big fan of Miley Cyrus. The actress, who, along with Cyrus, was honored at the Los Angeles LGBT Center Vanguard Awards on Nov. 7, had already walked the red carpet and was waiting for a vodka martini to be delivered to her when she spotted the “Wrecking Ball” singer’s arrival. Fonda, like Cyrus today, was a controversy magnet in the ’60s and ’70s for her feminism

30 BILLBOARD | NOVEMBER 21, 2015

Eventually, neighborhood gang ailiations connected him with YG and Mustard. Their third collaboration was 2010’s “Toot It and Boot It,” an ode to commitment-free sex that has more than 27 million YouTube views and helped disseminate the minimalist hip-hop sound that pop stars like Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora are still mimicking. But Ty preferred staying behind the scenes — until he watched YG collect $10,000 for performing three songs at a club. “I had a kid,” says Ty, “so I had to step it up and get that cake.” A lurry of mixtapes introduced listeners to Ty’s

Ty Dolla Sign with Charli XCX (left) and Tinashe at the MTV Movie Awards in April.

world, an emotional ice loe where broken men and broken women gleefully mistreat each other. “She got his name tatted on her/She texting me like, ‘Babe come over’/I lied and said that I was out of town/I’m with my other bitch right now,” he sings on Beach House 2’s “Ratchet in My Benz.” A girlfriend cheated on him, and he admits his feelings bled into the music, comparing it to the nihilistic music fellow rapper-singer Future made after a well-publicized split. “As soon as he f—ing broke up with Ciara, he turned up again,” says Ty, his easy smile surfacing. “People said that to me, too. When I had a girl, I was turned down. As soon as I didn’t, shit started happening.”

and activism, and she ran back down the carpet to give Cyrus a big hug. Later that night Cyrus licked a piano that then sold for $50,000.

Ty is single now, but not averse to settling down. “Every person needs to go home and have that person to wake up to — eventually, when the party’s over,” he says. “With all these random bitches, as soon as you bust that nut you want them to disappear. Like ‘Yo, get away from me. How did this happen? Why did I just stick my dick in you?’ ” Hearing such misogynistic views expressed in R&B form can be jarring, but Ty claims his lyrics, frequently called sexist by critics, are genderneutral. “Whoever says I’m a womanizer is a dumbass. This is something a woman could say to a man or something a man could say to a woman.” Free TC has cameos by West, Khalifa and Babyface and, naturally, lecherous records like the Fetty Wap-featuring inidelity anthem “When I See Ya.” But the title references a grimmer subject: “TC” is Gabriel Griin, Ty’s younger brother, who’s in prison for murder. In 2004, a member of the Crips was gunned down in apparent retribution for cooperating with police, and a witness ingered TC. Ty insists he’s innocent. “He got life in prison for a murder he didn’t do,” he says. Ty hopes to bring attention to both his brother’s case and America’s lawed justice system. “The mass incarceration going on in this country and with my people is crazy. People are getting locked up every day for shit they didn’t do.” On “Miracle,” Ty’s favorite song on the LP, he builds a beat under an a cappella verse TC recorded in jail. “He’s dead to the world,” says Ty, “but there’s still a chance. God may change this for him. I got all the women and everything I want, but my brother is locked up. I can’t leave him behind.” Back in Los Angeles, Ty recently bought a house with a pool, which he emptied so he can skateboard in it; he plans to “trick it out” with a vivid paint job and lights. The fact that he’s able to aford such excess after years of struggle is reason enough to be optimistic about his brother’s fate. “I’m a millionaire making money of music.” He pauses, his green eyes barely visible behind dark glasses. “It’s a miracle.”

the American Civil Liberties Union’s Social Bill of Rights Dinner in Los Angeles, and an insider overheard guests discussing that the six-string virtuoso and father of two boys, 4 and 8, devotes part of his weekend to coaching an Tom Morello, Soccer Dad American Youth Soccer Organization team Former Rage Against in the Los Angeles area. Sicko filmmaker the Machine guitarist Michael Moore presented Morello with and de facto E Street Band the award, and in the crowd were Vector Morello member Tom Morello is just Management executive Andy Mendelsohn; as at home on soccer fields as Creative Artist Agency’s Rick Roskin; Harvest he is on concert stages. On Records GM Jacqueline Saturn; Morello’s wife, Nov. 8, Morello received the Denise; and his activist mom, Mary Morello. Got gossip? Send to [email protected] 2015 Bill of Rights Award at

and having that life. The real shit took over.” Says YG: “Ty gave R&B some bounce. He turned it up a notch. But you can’t really put him in a speciic category — the homie can do it all.” Ty grew up in Los Angeles, the son of a realtor mother and a multi-instrumentalist father who did session work for Death Row Records and Rick James, and toured with funk band Lakeside. The couple divorced when Ty was young; he resented Tyrone Griin Sr. until he was thrust into fatherhood, split with his child’s mother and became a professional musician himself. “I used to hate Pops for a while,” says Ty, who has a 10-yearold daughter named Jailynn. “But now, I got to see what the f— it was like.” Despite associations with rowdy club anthems, Ty is a full-ledged music prodigy. He learned keyboard, guitar, drums and how to program an MPC sampler at an early age. Today, he surprisingly name-checks India.Arie, Black Star, Tha Alkaholiks and Rawkus Records as childhood inluences and gushes about the late producer J-Dilla. Along with a Supreme hat accessorized by a pinkie-size blunt, Ty’s wearing a motorcycle jacket, which he bought of the back of a member of punk group Trash Talk and plastered with a Germs patch and a Black Flag pin. Before shows, he listens to Cro-Mags and Bad Brains. “It gives me hella energy, but people don’t get it,” says Ty. “I don’t care how many bitches or hood n—as there are in the dressing room — you’re going to have to get into it and learn something.” Ty’s major-label debut hasn’t come easy or quickly. He helped score ilms Biker Boyz and The Cookout in the early 2000s and was later signed to Buddah Brown Entertainment as part of a duo called Ty & Kory. His stop-start career strained his relationship with his parents and contributed to him splitting with the mother of his daughter; he grew dreads, he explains, because he couldn’t aford to cut his hair. “People thought I was tripping. I was working with all these famous motherf—ers but nothing really happened.”

WE CREATE MEMORIES IN BROOKLYN

barclayscenter.com

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PUNK ROCK’S MAIN DRAG

Peeples

New book takes a walk down St. Marks Place, home to generations of music history BY JEM ASWAD

Long a haven for bohemians, beats, beatniks and punks, St. Marks Place, in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood, has been interchangeable with rock’n’roll for 50 years, name-dropped in dozens of songs ranging from Lou Reed and Tom Waits to The Dictators and The Replacements. Inevitably,

every successive generation has claimed that “St. Marks is dead” — and that’s the apt title of an excellent history book (out now from W.W. Norton) by occasional Billboard contributor Ada Calhoun, who grew up on the street. Below are several (but by no means all) of the legendary music landmarks it features.

Q& A

J E M ’ S ANTI PO P STAR Beloved 1980s cartoon Jem, about the

No. 4: Trash and Vaudeville Iconic punk boutique now in its 40th year, managed by Jimmy Webb, “the spirit animal of St. Marks Place,” according to Calhoun.

Nos. 19-23: Former site of The Dom, aka The New Mod-Dom , where The Velvet Underground headlined Andy Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable shows in 1966 and 1967, and the upstairs ’60s nightclub Electric Circus .

titular glam-pop star, was resurrected in October with Jem and the Holograms, director Jon M. Chu’s live-action adaptation. It bombed at the box office

No. 83:

Stromboli Pizza Punk hangout and site of famous Beastie Boys photos (plus a solid slice).

and with critics, but things are still looking bright for star Audrey Peeples. In addition to her first film lead, the 21-year-old plays country singer Layla Grant on ABC’s Nashville, where she was promoted to regular on the fourth season, launched in September. Now, Peeples is ready to step up her music career — and take on all the haters. A lot of critics and old-school Jem fans didn’t like the reboot. How do you feel about that? I don’t really care about reviews — at the end of the day it’s about doing the best you can with what you’re given.

No. 122: Site of Sin-é , the tiny, now-closed venue that was host to Jeff Buckley, who recorded his debut EP there, and packed acoustic shows by Sinéad O’Connor, P.J. Harvey and even U2 (Bono played piano).

I hate that a lot of original fans weren’t excited to see this film, but I completely understand: If you wanted to see something that’s just like the series, this is not it. I think if we’d tried to do it just like the original, we would get more hate because there’s no way we could do it justice, and it wouldn’t translate well. It’s super ’80s, the graphics and everything. Which is awesome, but Jem had a young audience; in order to bring in kids today, some updating needed to be done.

No. 20: St. Mark’s Sounds The longestrunning and most popular last-man-standing of the many record shops that once lined the street. It finally closed in October.

You also sing on Nashville. Do you look for parts that feature music? I don’t look for only roles involving

No. 36: Gem Spa 90-year-old newsstand with hard-to-find overseas periodicals and stellar egg creams. It’s featured on the classic back cover of local boys the New York Dolls’ 1973 self-titled debut.

music; I just love going for them because they’re both so important to me. It’s a separate passion, but I love combining them. I grew up doing musical theater, so I’ve been trained well. Is a recording career something you’re interested in? Absolutely! I would love, ideally, to release an album within the next year.

My music is different from Jem’s and

No. 33: Former site of

Manic Panic , an influential punk-era boutique run by sisters Snooky and Tish Bellomo, who were in an early band with Blondie’s Deborah Harry and later their own Sic F—s. The store is now based in Queens.

32 BILLBOARD | NOVEMBER 21, 2015

Nos. 96-98: Site of the buildings featured on the cover of Led Zeppelin’s seminal 1975 album Physical Graffiti. A tea shop called Physical Graffitea (groan!) now resides in the basement of No. 96. On the corner at No. 90 was St. Marks Bar and Grill , where comic Colin Quinn tended bar and The Rolling Stones shot their “Waiting on a Friend” video.

Layla’s; I write blues-rock, jazzy music. I’m influenced by Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Bonnie Raitt, The Black Keys, Amy Winehouse. I want to bring blues and soul back but in a relevant way. If you could be a pop star for a day, whom would you be? I don’t know — because I don’t want to be a pop star.

the beat “People who have these notions of what we should wear and do are raised in bubbles,” says Le1f.

COSTE LLO’ S TU RN I N G PO I NTS Elvis Costello has enjoyed an extraordinary 61 years on earth and 38 years in the music business, and he recounts the many highlights and lowlights of both in his new 700-page memoir, Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink (Blue Pride Press). The rock legend spoke with Billboard about a few of his life’s key moments. His 1979 brawl with Stephen Stills and Bonnie Bramlett, in which he used racial slurs to describe James Brown and Ray Charles “I uttered words

S LUG H E RE

that were the opposite of my feelings. I have no explanation why, other than provoking those people. If I had been less drunk

SPOTLIGHT

I could’ve surely found a more personal way to start a fight. But a book is a great place for an [explanation]. People can read and know my first and last word about it.” The 2011 death of his father,

‘Boi’ Meets World Before Young Thug donned a skirt, outspoken gay rapper Le1f was moving the needle

trumpeter Ross McManus — and

ending the book on his death, but music carried him to the very last door. And the point of this [book] is it carried me beyond the worst thing that ever happened to me: to lose him. I wanted to have a more optimistic ending. Something of value comes out of [my struggles]: the love I have for all my family.” His 2013 song with The Roots, “The Puppet Has Cut His Strings” “I wrote a literal recitation of my father’s last moments. I had no idea I was going to do that. I had told myself it was beyond me to write about, in book or song. But if I hadn’t written that song, I wouldn’t have completed the book in the same way. It goes to show the trust you place in music; my father’s last solace was music.”

—CHRIS PARKER

Costello

34 BILLBOARD | NOVEMBER 21, 2015

BY NATALI E WE I N E R

L

E1F, THE MC-PRODUCER WHOSE OPEN

homosexuality and eclectic fashion have made him an outsider in rap, is thinking about his favorite hip-hop record of 2015 and twisting his face into a cynical side-eye. “There hasn’t been a rap album I like yet,” he says over tea at a cofee bar on New York’s Lower East Side, his 6-foot-plus frame tucked behind a tiny table. “That Future album? I thought it was kind of wack.” Le1f ’s outspoken aversion to Future’s hit album DS2, illed with macho threats and songs like “Freak Hoe,” is unsurprising: His rising fame is built on turning hetero hegemony on its head. In the video for “Koi,” from debut album Riot Boi (out Nov. 12 on XL/Terrible), the 26-yearold hits dance moves inspired by the gay ballroom scene and tells a male suitor to “watch me shake that ass,” reversing a familiar The video for Le1f’s “Soda” with Boodie. command; in another clip, he whips purple braids around his head and wears booty shorts. “People who have these notions of what we should wear and do are raised in bubbles,” says Le1f (pronounced “leaf ”). “They forget the era rap came from, when people wore gold jumpsuits and headdresses. Or what their great-great-grandfather was wearing: For white people, it’s heels and ruled shirts, and for most Africans, it’s a raia skirt. It’s ignorance.” Yes, he’s more likely to cite Grace Jones as an inluence than Gucci Mane, but that doesn’t mean Le1f, born Khalif Diouf, isn’t a serious rapper. Riot Boi is exactly the countercultural manifesto you’d expect from the title and Le1f ’s history of tackling sensitive political topics — just set to eclectic, dance-friendly beats. “Obviously I’m not a female,” he says of riot grrrls, the 1990s feminist

post-punk movement the album title plays on, “but I was just trying to be like that.” The recent controversies over police brutality were another key inspiration. “Watching every video of every cop beating up someone — that deinitely inluenced the record a lot.” Born and raised in New York, Le1f started going to clubs around the age of 15. At irst, he mostly stuck to dancing, which he studied at Wesleyan University, where he met fellow alums Santigold and Das Racist. After producing the latter’s 2008 breakout “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell,” Le1f turned to rapping with the 2012 mixtape Dark York. But when he performs, it’s clear dance is his irst love. “I feel comfortable being onstage by myself and doing whatever I need to hold it down,” says Le1f, though that doesn’t mean he plans to have backup dancers — once he can aford them. “I totally want to have a Janet Jackson-style show.” Le1f ’s embrace of queer culture has made him an anomaly in rap, but he increasingly looks like a harbinger of change. Since his debut, hetero MCs like ASAP Rocky, Young Thug and Lil B have taken to wearing androgynous clothes and saying things taken by some to be homoerotic or efeminate. Says Le1f: “Half the time I see a rapper in a skirt I’m like...” He gives another side-eye. “Except when ASAP wore a full-length dress — that was amazing!” Could this sartorial shift mean rap is becoming more open to homosexuality? Le1f ’s take is pragmatic: “When something becomes the look, everyone in the hood accepts it. As long as [popular streetwear line] Hood by Air keeps making men’s dresses, rappers will wear them and everyone will be ine.”

THANK YOU THANK YOU TO ROC NATION AND AN AMAZING GROUP OF PERFORMING ARTISTS FOR HELPING US CREATE MEMORIES.

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HEAR SAY A LOOK AT WHO’S SAYING WHAT IN MUSIC

“I love it when men use their minds wisely… but wait… does that REALLY exist?”

Spears

— BRITN EY SPEARS The pop star on Instagram, captioning a picture of two men playing chess.

COMPILED BY STEVEN J. HOROWITZ

Puff Daddy

“We got Obama into office… Where are the things in our community that have gotten drastically better?”

“Britt Meddler! I don’t know who that is, either! But damn that bitch!” — B ETTE M I DLE R The entertainer, who previously criticized Justin Bieber’s father, reacting on Twitter to Bieber’s Billboard cover story in which he referred to her as “Britt Middler” and said he didn’t know who she was.

— PUFF DADDY The Bad Boy honcho, speaking to Ebro in the Morning on WQHT New York (Hot 97.1).

“I’m not a thing. We’re not a thing. We’re humans with feelings that change just like this weather.”

“Once we’ve figured ourselves out, we could maybe come together and make an awesome duo.” —JUSTIN BIEBER

— M ILEY CYRUS

The “Sorry” singer on ex-girlfriend Selena Gomez, during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

The pop star, giving a speech on eradicating labels and boundaries when it comes to sexuality, at the Los Angeles LGBT Center Gala. Bieber

“He’s a dipshit… But he’s my dipshit.”

“I basically need to kiss some more boys so I can write some songs.”

— BLAKE SHE LTON The Voice judge, tweeting about Luke Bryan winning entertainer of the year at the CMAs.

—SAM SMITH The British crooner, explaining why he’s taking a break from music, during an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Q&A

GEORGE TAKEI BEAMS UP TO BROADWAY Decades after he first rose to fame playing Star

scene, where I use my own father in referring to my

Trek’s Sulu, George Takei, 78, has become an outspoken

theatrical father. I owe so much to my father. He was

political activist and social media star. But there’s

the man who explained to me our democracy while he also

one story he has been waiting his whole life to tell:

lost everything in his 30s — his business, our home,

his early years spent in a Japanese internment camp

freedom. Yet he maintained his dignity.

during World War II. This month he did just that, making his Broadway debut in Allegiance, a musical

What are your musical tastes like? I know Adele and all

about his family’s experience. “My passion is musical

the current singers, but in the camp my mother put us

theater,” says Takei, “so to be able to bring my life

to bed across from the mess hall, where teenagers would

mission together with it has been a dream come true.”

have dances. I heard the big-band sound of the ’40s. That’s the kind of music I relate to. I’m 78 years old!

Sixteen countries. Three continents. Nine time zones. I’ve seen the world with these guys and have the phone bill to prove it. But I don’t do this for stamps in my passport. Every time they take a new stage in a sold out stadium, I’m making sure everything back home is just the way they left it. And SunTrust’s Sports and Entertainment Specialty Group is providing me solutions tailored for my industry to make it happen. Visit suntrust.com/talent

From top: St. Vincent; Katy Perry’s “E.T.” music video look; a still from Adele’s “Hello” clip, for which Neal used a leaf blower to keep the singer’s hair moving.

Neal photographed Oct. 19 at her residence in Los Angeles.

Style SPOTLIGHT

When stars like David Bowie and St. Vincent need a new do, they entrust their locks to Pamela Neal BY MIKE SAGER P H OTO G R A P H E D BY E M I LY B E R L

“I geek out about my tools. I have about 15 brushes and 15 combs.” Right: Neal creates moodboards before each shoot. 40 BILLBOARD | NOVEMBER 21, 2015

F

private show,” recalls Neal. “It was spectacular.” Trained in London, Neal opened her irst salon in Toronto when she was 25. Later, after launching a second one in New York, she began doing hair and makeup for videos and album shoots, including St. Vincent’s self-titled 2014 release. Though the indierock icon arrived on set with damaged, tobacco-colored

“I feel very lucky to have her hands in my head.” Neal says the highlight “of my life, let alone career,” is her ongoing work with Bowie, starting with the 1997 video for “Little Wonder” and more recently with Bowie and Tilda Swinton for “The Stars (Are Out Tonight).” “He was always my hero, not just for fashion and music but for life,” she says. After spending the past

“Pamela is a visionary and can change your whole attitude with her work.”

—Pink

hair that “was a disaster” — some quick thinking, blue die and a willing St. Vincent (“her attitude was ‘Let’s go with it’ ”) resulted in the musician’s visually arresting violet look. The two have collaborated ever since. “Pamela is a visionary and can change your whole attitude and presence with her work,” says Pink, who has been a client for two years.

decade on movie and video sets, Neal now lives in Los Angeles, where she is once again focusing primarily on hair. As the art director of Benjamin, a West Hollywood salon, Neal works by appointment on both the famous and the wealthy — a session runs at least $300. “I feel most comfortable,” she says with a laugh, “when I go back to my roots.”

becoming a hair stylist to the stars began as a matter of convenience. Growing up in the resort town of Bournemouth, on the south coast of England, Neal felt a calling to create: “Back home, we girls did all sorts of crafts. To me, hair was just another medium for artistic expression.” Plus, it was accessible. “Everybody in my family had hair on their head; I could get at it,” she says. Today Neal is known as a top stylist who helps boundary-pushing artists push their own boundaries, creating iconic looks for St. Vincent, Bjork, Pink, Marilyn Manson, Tricky, David Bowie, Katy Perry and most recently Adele — for whom she provided the soft and sexy hairstyle in her video for “Hello.” “When you’re doing music videos, the artist sings quite a bit. Adele was just belting it out in the middle of this windstorm in cold Montreal. It felt like I was having a personal

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Who are the top single and album artists in Hot 100 and Billboard 200 history? THE BE ATLES (No. 1 all-time artist) and ADELE (biggest album), but also EMINEM, RIHANN A and... AIR SUPPLY? For the first time, Billboard reveals the most successful songs, albums and acts of the past 50-plus years

ore than 50 years after the release of their debut single, “Love Me Do,” principally written by a then-16-year-old Paul McCartney, The Beatles remain the Billboard Hot 100’s biggest act of all time. Even in 2015, the band’s accomplishments still stagger: 34 top 10 hits, 50 songs in the top 40 and the most No. 1s in a calendar year (six in 1964 and five in 1965) — plus, McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr are the only artists to take over the Hot 100’s top five positions simultaneously. The deluxe reissue of The Beatles’ 1 hits collection, released Nov. 6 and featuring the following eight indelible classics, is expected to make a top 10 debut on the Billboard 200. Says McCartney, now 73: “It was all very magical, really.”

CREDITS HERE AND HERE TKTKTKTKTKTKTK

“I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND” (REACHED NO. 1 ON FEB. 1, 1964)

From left: The Beatles’ Lennon, Harrison, McCartney and Starr in 1965.

In late 1962, The Beatles began to blitz the United Kingdom with effusively energetic songs, but America initially took a skeptical view of their music, as well as their girlish haircuts. “The big story about ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand,’ ” recalls McCartney, “I’d said to Brian [Epstein, the band’s manager], ‘We don’t want to go to America until we have a No. 1 record.’ A lot of British artists went there and came back with the audience having been slightly underwhelmed by them. I said, ‘We don’t want to be like that. If we go, we want to go on top.’ ” After Epstein convinced Ed Sullivan to book The Beatles on his top-viewed primetime CBS show, Capitol Records U.S. stopped ignoring the band and agreed to put out “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in the States, to coincide with its American TV debut — but then had to rush the release in December 1963 after a Washington, D.C., DJ began to play an import single ahead of schedule. “We were playing in Paris, an engagement at the Olympia Theatre, a famous old theater Edith Piaf played at, and we got a telegram — as you did in those days — saying, ‘Congratulations, No. 1 in U.S. charts.’ We jumped on each other’s backs. It was late at night after a show, and we just partied. That was the record that allowed us to come to America.” One of the band’s five songs to occupy the Hot 100’s top five slots on April 4, 1964 (with “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Twist and Shout,” “She Loves You” and “Please Please Me”), “I Want to Hold Your Hand” ranks as the chart’s No. 45 single of all time.

“LOVE ME DO” (MAY 30, 1964) With a two-chord structure and repetitive, singsong melody, “Love Me Do” from debut studio album Please Please Me doesn’t hint at the grandeur or emotional complexity of future Beatles songs. “Our early stuff is more simple than our later stuff, and that’s one of the great things about The Beatles,” says McCartney. “This was a very simple song that fell into the category of ‘fan songs.’ All our early songs contained ‘me’ or ‘you.’ We were completely direct and shameless to the fans: ‘Love Me Do’; ‘Please Please Me’; ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand.’ A lot of people are fond of ‘Love Me Do’ because it evokes a period — and hey, it was No. 1, so it’s OK by me.” On “Love Me Do,” Starr plays only the tambourine, because producer George Martin, accustomed to working with England’s top session aces, replaced the band’s drummer with veteran studio musician Andy White. “George wasn’t dealing, ever, with guys like us, who hadn’t been taught music, and he thought Ringo wasn’t professional enough, much to Ringo’s eternal sorrow. So Ringo was relegated to a tambourine. We hated it. We didn’t think Andy White was anywhere near as good as Ringo. But we had to listen to the grown-up.”

“HELP!” (SEPT. 4, 1965) After two years of breakneck recording and touring, Lennon was unhappy in his marriage to his former college sweetheart and stuffed with drugs. Tasked with writing a song for The Beatles’ second film, he began to erase the band’s merry, dashing veneer with “Help!” “I turned up at John’s house for a writing session,” recalls McCartney, “and saw the opportunity to add a descant [melody in the second verse]. We finished it quite quickly; we went downstairs and sang it to John’s wife at the time, Cynthia, and a journalist he was friendly with called Maureen Cleave. We were very pleased with ourselves.” Lennon later said, “I was fat and depressed, and I was crying out for help,” though he also masked his misery with the song’s chirpy tempo. Adds McCartney, “He didn’t say, ‘I’m now fat and I’m feeling miserable.’ He said, ‘When I was younger, so much younger than today.’ In other words, he blustered his way through. We all felt the same way. But looking back on it, John was always looking for help. He had [a paranoia] that people died when he was around: His father left home when John was 3, the uncle he lived with died later, then his mother died. I think John’s whole life was a cry for help.”

“WE CAN WORK IT OUT” (JAN. 8, 1966) McCartney refers to “We Can Work It Out” as “a girlfriend song,” and like “Help!,” the lyrics acknowledged that not everything in a Beatle’s life was perfect. According to lore, he wrote it about a fight he had had with girlfriend Jane Asher. “I don’t remember the circumstances, but I’m clearly saying, ‘Try and see it my way, because I’m obviously right.’ It may be arrogant, but it’s what every man wants to say to every girl. ‘Please think of this from my point of view. It might make things easier. It’d 44 BILLBOARD | NOVEMBER 21, 2015

“

LOOKING BACK ON IT, I THINK JOHN’S WHOLE LIFE WAS A CRY FOR HELP. ”

certainly make it easier for me.’ ” In Ian MacDonald’s book Revolution in the Head: The Beatles’ Records and the Sixties, the author points to “We Can Work It Out” as the moment when Lennon’s dominance of the band ended and McCartney became “ascendant not only as a songwriter, but also as instrumentalist, arranger, producer and de facto musical director of The Beatles.” MacDonald also notes that the song took 12 hours to record, which was an unprecedented length of time. “It wasn’t a complicated song,” says McCartney. “Maybe I was fussing over it because it was my song. You get an idea of how things should sound, and if it doesn’t quite sound like that, you keep pushing.”

“PAPERBACK WRITER” (JUNE 25, 1966) “Love is a great thing to write a song about,” says McCartney. “ ‘You left me, I hate you.’ ‘I love you, please come to me.’ ‘Don’t go anywhere, because I’m coming.’ It’s what us humans are about.” But after a few years of writing love songs, he got restless. One result was “Paperback Writer,” a funny tale of ambition, frustration and a desperation to please others, inspired by a Daily Mail article he read about an aspiring novelist. McCartney wrote the lyrics in the style of a form letter, and Lennon sagely advised him not to change it. Two sounds dominate the recording, which spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100: McCartney’s snappy, booming Rickenbacker bassline and knotty, contrapuntal harmonies, inspired by The Beach Boys, that start the track and recur in a breakdown. “Before that, we had been influenced by artists like Smokey Robinson & The Miracles or Phil Spector. But at this point, it was The Beach Boys. ‘Paperback Writer’ is a nod to them, and to the idea that everyone wants to write a novel. I liked the word ‘paperback.’ ” And why are Lennon and Harrison chanting “Frere Jacques” in the background vocals? “That’s a good question. No idea! We threw in all sorts of stuff. Why did we say ‘Harold Wilson’ and ‘Edward Heath’ [in the background vocals of 1966’s “Taxman”]? We were completely free about throwing in an interesting idea.”

“PENNY LANE” (MARCH 18, 1967) The farther The Beatles traveled from Liverpool — in physical and emotional distance, money and fame — the more they thought about the city. Their combined sentiment culminated in “Penny Lane,” a pre-Google Maps aerial view of their hometown. McCartney even unsheathes a Liverpudlian accent when he sings the word “customer.”

“Penny Lane was a place in Liverpool that we were very nostalgic for,” he says. “It was a terminal where John and I got the bus to go to each other’s houses. And all the things in the song are true. We never saw a banker in a plastic mac [raincoat] — we made him up — but there was a barber, there was a bank. There was a fire station. Once there was a nurse selling poppies — a lot of people thought the lyric was ‘selling puppies,’ but we’re saying ‘poppies,’ which is a Remembrance Day thing for the British Legion. It was all true, basically.” It’s also one of The Beatles’ most baroque arrangements, with not a guitar in sight — their influences had receded past Robinson and landed in the 18th century. “I heard Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos and asked George Martin what the high trumpet was. He said, ‘It’s a piccolo trumpet,’ so we got the best piccolo trumpet player in town, and I wrote a piece for him at the recording session. I wanted to make a very clean record. It was all very magical, really.”

“HEY JUDE” (SEPT. 28, 1968) There might not be a betterknown origin tale in Beatles lore than “Hey Jude,” which McCartney wrote while thinking about John’s son Julian, then 5 years old — but that’s only part of the story. “I was on the way to see him after John and Cynthia got divorced, and because I was good friends with [Julian], it came into my mind: ‘Hey, Jules, don’t make it bad,’ ” he recalls. “It’s a song of hopefulness.” Later, McCartney changed “Jules” to “Jude.” “I’d heard the name in a musical — Carousel, I think: ‘Jude is dead’ or something like that. I hadn’t realized ‘Jude’ means ‘Jew’ [in German]. That caused some confusion, and a man got quite angry with me over that.” So angry that after McCartney and a few friends painted “HEY JUDE” on the highly visible window of the Apple Boutique on London’s Baker Street in 1968, the passerby mistook the phrase for anti-Semitic graffiti and smashed the glass with a soda siphon. Lennon suspected the song was about him and his relationship with Yoko Ono, pointing to the lyrics — especially “You have found her, now go and get her” — that address an adult, not a child. “The only thing about Julian in the song is the first lines,” says McCartney, declining to elucidate the mystery of who else he’s addressing in the song. “Hey Jude” was not only The Beatles’ longest song to date, it was the first release on their Apple Records label. The single spent 19 weeks on the Hot 100 — longer than any other Beatles entry at the time — and nine of them at No. 1, making it the group’s longest-leading hit and the No. 10 Hot 100 single of all time. Even Lennon, who often said unkind things about McCartney’s songs, called the —ROB TANNENBAUM stirring ballad a masterpiece. I LLU STR ATI O N S BY J ES S E LE NZ

opened with a Beatles classic, “Eight Days a Week.” ’ I wouldn’t put it as a ‘classic.’ Is it the cleverest song we’ve ever written? No. Has it got a certain joie de vivre that The Beatles embodied? Yes. The best thing about it was the title, really.” In many anecdotes, Starr uttered the phrase that became the song’s title; the actual story is that McCartney had lost his license for a year due to a speeding ticket, so a driver was taking him to Lennon’s house. “Just as we reached John’s, I said, ‘You been busy?’ Just small talk. And he said, ‘Busy? I’ve been working eight days a week.’ I ran into the house and said, ‘Got a title!’ And we wrote it in the next hour.” With the swaying “Hold me, love me” chant in the pre-chorus, The Beatles — all still in their early 20s — continued to turn innocent desire into carnal wishes. “Our parents had been rather repressed, and we were breaking out of that mold. Everyone was let off the leash. Coming down from Liverpool to London, there were all sorts of swinging chicks, and we were red-blooded young men. All that’s on your mind at that age is young women — or it was, in our case.”

MADONNA REIGNS AS QUEEN OF THE HOT 100 The chart’s greatest all-time solo artist (and leading woman), Madonna boasts the most top 10 singles of any act — 38 — and 17 consecutive hits, from 1984’s “Borderline” to

RICH FURY/INVISION/AP

1989’s “Cherish.”

13Rihanna no.

Even though she didn’t arrive on the Billboard Hot 100 until 2005, with the No. 2-peaking dancehall reggae-splashed “Pon De Replay,” Rihanna ranks prominently as the No. 13 artist of the chart’s 57-year history. Her 13 No. 1s — from 2006’s “SOS” to 2013’s “The Monster” (by Eminem featuring Rihanna) — place her in rarefied historical air: She’s tied with Michael Jackson for the third-best No. 1 singles total, behind only The Beatles (20) and Mariah Carey (18). Key to the 27-year-old Barbadian’s success is her wide range, says Kid Kelly, SiriusXM vp music programming. “She has surprised fans with the ability to reinvent herself authentically album to album, song to song.” She also deftly moves among

genres, from dance music (“We Found Love,” her 2011 smash with Calvin Harris, sits at No. 25 on the all-time Hot 100) and R&B/hip-hop (her Grammynominated 2010 No. 1 single “What’s My Name?” showcased Drake) to pop (2008’s “Take a Bow” and “Disturbia”). Rihanna’s most recent Hot 100 top 10 even found her in coffeehouse-folk mode, as she hit No. 4 in February with the Kanye West and Paul McCartney collaboration “FourFiveSeconds.” Other acts with whom she has shared Hot 100 credit are also diverse: Bono, Jay Z, Maroon 5, Nicki Minaj and Slash. With her eighth album on the way, her first since 2012’s Billboard 200 No. 1 Unapologetic, Rihanna is poised to climb even higher on the all-time artist list. “She doesn’t make any style sound forced,” says WBBM-FM Chicago assistant program director/music director Erik Bradley. “Her versatility has helped her reach.” —GARY TRUST

THE DANCE CRAZE THAT WOULDN’T DIE The biggest Hot 100 song of all time, Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” is the only single to reach No. 1 in two release cycles: once in 1960, after Checker first performed the tune on American Bandstand, and again in 1962. Written by

26. LOW Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain

ALL-TIME HOT 100 BY GENRE

27. I JUST WANT TO BE YOUR EVERYTHING Andy Gibb

36

There are more pop songs on the chart’s 100 greatest list than rock, rap and country singles combined

POP

26 R&B

Hank Ballard & The Midnighters — whose

4

original hit No. 28

DANCE

in 1960 — the classic re-emerged in 1988, when The Fat Boys

8

4

RAP

COUNTRY

ROCK

69. ALL ABOUT THAT BASS Meghan Trainor

31. FLASHDANCE ... WHAT A FEELING Irene Cara

70. AQUARIUS/LET THE SUNSHINE IN The 5th Dimension

32. ROLLING IN THE DEEP Adele

71. WHOOMP! (THERE IT IS) Tag Team

33. TOSSIN’ AND TURNIN’ Bobby Lewis

72. MOVES LIKE JAGGER Maroon 5 Featuring Christina Aguilera

1

THE TWIST Chubby Checker

2

SMOOTH Santana Featuring Rob Thomas

3

MACK THE KNIFE Bobby Darin

1959

4

HOW DO I LIVE LeAnn Rimes

5

6

1960

13

1996

14

YEAH! Usher Featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris

2004

15

BETTE DAVIS EYES Kim Carnes

78. SUGAR, SUGAR The Archies

46. SHADOW DANCING Andy Gibb

85. GANGSTA’S PARADISE Coolio Featuring L.V.

47. CALL ME MAYBE Carly Rae Jepsen

86. ABRACADABRA The Steve Miller Band

48. BLURRED LINES Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell

87. YOU’RE SO VAIN Carly Simon

49. CANDLE IN THE WIND 1997/SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT Elton John 50. NO ONE Alicia Keys

Carlos Santana says he was meditating in the late ’90s, after 15 years without a hit, when an entity called “Metatron” urged him to return to the airwaves — the kids needed him. Matchbox 20’s Rob Thomas and songwriter Itaal Shur had the perfect offering, a pop song that varnished the guitarist’s psych-rock for the so-called Latin Explosion era. As the centerpiece of 1999’s Supernatural, “Smooth” was No. 1 from Oct. 23, 1999 through Jan. 8, and remained in the top 10 for 30 weeks. Thomas, for his part, still likes to hear the Y2K smash on the radio, but wishes the first line weren’t so quotable. “If I could get a dollar for every time someone said to me, ‘Man, it’s a hot one,’ ” he says, “I could trade —NICK MURRAY in my royalties on ‘Smooth.’ ”

9

30. SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW Gotye Featuring Kimbra

40. ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST Queen

SANTANA featuring ROB THOMAS

8

68. I LOVE ROCK ’N ROLL Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

37. SILLY LOVE SONGS Wings

“Smooth” no.2

7

29. EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE The Police

36. TRULY MADLY DEEPLY Savage Garden

a beatboxed cover.

SONG Artist

28. TOO CLOSE Next

35. ONE SWEET DAY Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men

peaked at No. 16 with

66. THE BOY IS MINE Brandy & Monica 67. BECAUSE I LOVE YOU (THE POSTMAN SONG) Stevie B

Eminem no.14 Marshall Mathers, 43, is the top hip-hop artist of all time on the Billboard 200, ranking at No. 14 overall — even significantly higher than rap demigod Jay Z (No. 43). Eminem’s remarkable run began in March 1999 with the No. 2 arrival (and peak) of his second full-length, The Slim Shady LP. Since then, all seven of the rapper’s subsequent releases have debuted at No. 1, including 2013’s The Marshall Mathers LP 2 — in total, Eminem’s albums have spent 132 weeks in the top 10. He is also only one of four top 20 acts whose Billboard 200 careers began in the last 25 years. The others? Garth Brooks and Mariah Carey, who both emerged in 1990, and Taylor Swift, who arrived in 2006. —KEITH CAULFIELD

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS Billboard vp charts and data development Silvio Pietroluongo explains the methodology behind the all-time charts How did you assemble these charts? First, we used a sliding scale to rank each title: A No. 1 record would get X amount of points, a No. 2 a little less and so on. Second, since chart rules and chart behavior changed over time, we weighed the years and eras differently. For example, songs and albums moved up and down the charts faster in the 1970s than in other eras, so a record that was No. 1 for five weeks in 1975 would be granted a higher point value than a record that was No. 1 for the same duration in 2010.

Thriller is the best-selling album of all time, according to the RIAA. So why isn’t it No. 1 on the all-time Billboard 200? These lists reflect the behavior

of albums and songs on our charts, not overall sales. Albums such as Thriller continue to sell for quite some time even if they’re no longer on the weekly Billboard 200. How else has chart behavior changed? Things changed dramatically in 1991 when Billboard introduced Nielsen-based point-of-purchase sales data. Before ’91, only six albums had debuted at No. 1. Now, that’s normal. By the end of 2016, will Adele’s 25 be the No. 1 album of all time? Not quite. You need a few years of sustained success to make the all-time list. But ask me again in 2018.

96. LADY GAGA 97. R. KELLY 98. BOYZ II MEN 99. KENNY G 40

USHER

100. BEE GEES

GREATEST OF ALL TIME AT BILLBOARD.COM Billboard’s Greatest Chart All-Stars tally is extended at Billboard.com, featuring dozens of artist- and staff-selected lists — from the best rappers of all time to the most iconic album covers.

The Majesty Of Tapestry How an “absolutely sincere” easy-listening LP recorded amid Laurel Canyon’s early-’70s hippie bliss remains one of the biggest-charting (and universally beloved) albums of all time, more than 40 years later

C C AROLE KING’S TAPESTRY

made her a star in 1971, but before most of the album’s devotees knew her name, she already had been an enormously successful songwriter for more than a decade. King and lyricisthusband Gerry Goin spent most of the ’60s writing hits like Little Eva’s “The Loco-Motion” and The Monkees’ “Pleasant Valley Sunday” (which reached No. 1 and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively). When the couple split, though, King moved from her New York hometown to Los Angeles’ Laurel Canyon neighborhood, where she was drawn into the singer-songwriter scene associated with West Hollywood club the Troubadour. The cover art for Tapestry, taken by famed rock photographer Jim McCrary, is an iconic vision of Southern Californian hippie bliss: King, barefoot and frizzy-haired, relaxing by her window with a crafts project and a cat. Neighbors who dropped by to

“I had no idea how big Tapestry would be until I watched it climb up the charts,” says King, pictured in 1971.

record included Joni Mitchell and James Taylor. (Taylor’s own version of Tapestry’s “You’ve Got a Friend” became the second No. 1 single written by King in 1971 and won the performer his irst Grammy.) “We were a community of people with a similar choice of career, similar inluences, similar interests and a similar drive to have our music be heard by millions of people,” recalls King, now 73. “An astonishing number of us achieved that.” King had recorded a couple of minor hits in the early ’60s,

and the core of the Tapestry band had made two earlier albums, one of them under the name The City. But Tapestry was where her singular gifts blossomed. As Taylor tells Billboard, his longtime friend “decided to own her voice — no gauze on the lens, no afected technique — writing from her own personal experience and her own heart. She was herself, it read as being absolutely sincere, and it connected.” King rarely had written words for her music before, but she came up with gorgeously plain-spoken

spent 15 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (the longest ever by a female solo artist at the time), 46 weeks in the top 10 and the better part of the ’70s on the chart, yielding four Grammys and 10 million copies sold in the United States, according to the RIAA. It also became the cornerstone of King’s career as a performer — and, more recently, of her jukebox musical Beautiful. (She’ll be feted at the Kennedy Center Honors in December.) “I had no idea how big Tapestry would be,” says King. “One word sums up how I feel about that: gratitude.” —DOUGLAS WOLK

79. UNPLUGGED Eric Clapton

BARBRA STREISAND

56. THE EMINEM SHOW Eminem

own reinterpretations of a pair of hits she and Goin had written for other acts — The Shirelles’ “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” — transformed them into reports from the California front of the sexual revolution. Tapestry was the kind of album in which listeners could hear their own lives relected. “It might have been the Vietnam War, the violence, the cultural divide,” says King. “People around the world have told me Tapestry helped them reconnect with basic human feelings when they really needed that.” The LP

Below: Recording Tapestry with engineer Hank Cicalo (left) and producer Lou Adler in 1971 in Los Angeles. Right: King with her four Grammys in 1972.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

55. UNORTHODOX JUKEBOX Bruno Mars

lyrics about the diiculties and joys of grown-up love. “So Far Away,” she notes, was inspired by missing her family — the two daughters she had with Goin, Louise and Sherry; and her second husband, bassist Charlie Larkey — while on the road playing piano for Taylor in 1970. Tapestry’s irst single, “It’s Too Late”/“I Feel the Earth Move,” spent ive weeks atop the Hot 100 and featured words by another Laurel Canyon friend, lyricist Toni Stern. (“She always gave me a completed lyric that was so evocative on the page that the music practically wrote itself,” says King.) And King’s

Singer-songwriter SAR A BAREILLES has sold more than 2 million albums, just published a best-selling memoir and counts Taylor Swift as a supporter. But as she embraces her inner theater geek — writing the songs for the hotly anticipated Broadway musical Waitress — she reveals her feelings about other pop stars (“I don’t see myself in them”) and the music industry: “So many aspects of it are toxic to the human condition”

By Rebecca Milzoff

Photographed by Eric Ryan Anderson

“I’ll be a happier, more well-adjusted artist and human if I don’t make myself a slave to the grind of putting out records every two years,” says Bareilles, photographed Oct. 30 at Sid Gold’s Request Room in New York. Styling by Shannon Adducci. Bareilles wears an Adeam jumpsuit.

“WHAT AM I DOING RIGHT

now?” Sara Bareilles has just blustered into a German beer bar on New York’s Lower East Side, lugging a giant dufel bag. “I’m so frazzled!” she apologizes. “I just got back from the book tour. And for the play, we’re in re-examination mode.” The book is Sounds Like Me, the 35-year-old singer-songwriter’s just-released, memoir-ish collection of essays that’s a New York Times bestseller. The play is Waitress, a musical opening on Broadway at the end of April, for which Bareilles is a irsttime composer-lyricist. What’s Inside, an album of Waitress songs sung by Bareilles, just arrived on Epic, and the plaintive single, “She Used to Be Mine,” is climbing Billboard’s Adult Top 40 chart. But tonight, it’s the show that’s most on her mind. “We’re going back through the script, readdressing some musical moments,” she explains. “The next big event will be a workshop in December. We’re not quite starting from scratch — because then I’d gouge my eyes out.” Warmly intelligent and decidedly no-frills, Bareilles always has seemed more like a pretty, talented drama club girl than a pop star. “I’m not a showstopper,” she admits. The Billboard 200 But her songs — lush peak of her third ballads like “Gravity” album, 2010’s Kaleidoscope and inspirational Heart. anthems like “Brave” — have commercial clout to rate with any Downloads sold of super-celeb. Her last “Love Song,” her three albums reached first hit, which went the Billboard 200’s to No. 4 on the Hot 100 in 2007. top 10 and have sold more than 2 million copies combined in the United States, Nominations for Grammy Awards, according to Nielsen including the Music. Her irst 2014 album of the year prize. single, 2007’s “Love Song,” hit the Billboard Hot 100’s top ive; 2013’s “Brave” sold 2.4 million downloads and soundtracked a Microsoft ad showcasing inspiring women like Malala Yousafzai. In between those hits, she judged on the third season of NBC’s The Sing-Of. It’s a rare career niche: making mainstream hits while retaining creative freedom and, now, conidently leaping into the theater world. “I’ve gotten advice,

Right: Onstage at her album release show on Nov. 5 in New York. Far right: At a rehearsal for Waitress with star Mueller in 2014. Opposite page: Bareilles wears a Tory Burch gown and pendant, and Mizuki and Miansai jewelry. For an exclusive video of Bareilles discussing the differences between writing for theater and writing for radio, go to Billboard.com or Billboard.com/ipad.

and sometimes I’ve taken it and sometimes I haven’t,” says Bareilles. “And somehow through the muck of it all I still really feel like myself.” “Because she’s in a way a mainstream artist, it’s easy for people to overlook her proiciency,” says Ben Folds, a collaborator and Sing-Of cojudge. “You can forget she’s one of the best singers around.” That’s a big part of what convinced veteran Broadway producer Barry Weissler that Bareilles should write Waitress, the story — based on the late Adrienne Shelly’s poignant 2007 ilm — of Jenna, a diner server trapped in an abusive marriage and with an unwanted pregnancy. “We tried other writers, and they couldn’t tell the simple, heartfelt story,” says Weissler. “This is not a sprawling musical with big sets and big chorus numbers,” he adds. “It’s lean and mean.” That suits Bareilles ine. “I would have had a really hard time writing a big musical,” she says. “I don’t know what that would look or sound like. Probably not very good!” Her self-awareness and unshowy instincts have deined Bareilles’ pop career. It helped, she says, that she was

voice, her face — nothing about her feels pushed or manufactured.” THOUGH BAREILLES LOOKS

every inch the New Yorker today in head-to-toe black, she’s a California girl who grew up among the redwoods in the northern coastal town of Eureka. She fell in love with theater, and theater folk, early on. “Loud, brash, eccentric, creative, accepting and hilarious, they represented a spectrum of people I could see myself inside of,” writes Bareilles in Sounds Like Me. Community theater was the one place where Bareilles wasn’t taunted as a “fat kid” — an insecurity that caught up with her when, in 2011, she was asked to appear on a cappella competition show The Sing-Of as a glammed-up judge. “I have a lot of baggage, which I have to process and negotiate on

“I don’t know that I would have survived this industry if I had entered it at 16 or 17.” 27 when her irst record came out. “I don’t know that I would have survived this industry if I had entered it at 16 or 17,” says Bareilles. “So many aspects of it are toxic to the human condition. Without enough belief in oneself, I can easily see why you’d make decisions that in 60 years make you say, ‘I really didn’t want to do that.’ ” Sticking to her guns has meant winning battles over her hits — on “Love Song,” she was encouraged not to play piano (she did) and a label executive complained that “Gravity” didn’t have enough choruses or drums (it stayed as is, and it’s now one of Bareilles’ most-requested songs, thankyouverymuch). “She’s a real person and she’s an adult,” says actress Rashida Jones, who got her irst directing gig when Bareilles asked her to helm the video for “Brave.” “There’s something really true about her songwriting, her

a daily basis,” she says. Being told to wear hair extensions and short sequined dresses on camera — while it wasn’t, she acknowledges, a terrible burden — “triggered a lot of that stuf. Like what I have to ofer as a mouthpiece and a mind is not enough. It made me want to rage on behalf of all those girls who feel like they’re being asked to be something they don’t want to be in order to ill in a blank.” Bareilles has been listening to 1989 on repeat and says that Taylor Swift, a friend and supporter, once made her a somewhat random but very generous ofer: “When my bus broke down, she contacted me and said, ‘Let me help you get a f—ing bus!’ ” And in 2012, when Katy Perry felt the wrath of the Internet for the similarities to “Brave” some heard in Perry’s hit “Roar,” Bareilles took the high road, saying, “There’s better shit to do than worry about that,” and noting that

Diverse Cast Of Friends Bareilles has cultivated a network of like-minded creatives

the controversy probably helped her record sales. “Katy and I have known each other for a really long time,” says Bareilles today. Still, she admits, “I have an odd relationship with my contemporaries. I don’t see myself in them, and I think we feel very much in separate worlds.” Three years ago, after 14 years in Los Angeles and a “f— it, let’s go get drunk in Brooklyn for a month” trip with her sister, Bareilles moved to New York. She’s single and lives in Nolita. She auditioned for the part of Cinderella in the 2012 Shakespeare in the Park production of Into the Woods — a role she lost to Jessie Mueller, who’s now the star of Waitress. “That bitch,” says Bareilles with a giggle. Writing a musical was an idea she previously had only “fooled around with,” speciically with her close friend Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland. “It was called Lesbians,” says Bareilles with a smirk. “It was about a women’s college in the ’90s, like during Lilith Fair. We wrote ive songs for it! We could totally do an EP.” When director Diane Paulus asked her to join the Waitress team, the induction into the theater scene “felt so oicial,” says Bareilles. “She just believed I could do it.” As a show that, like Bareilles herself, is not brazenly commercial, Waitress is a gamble for big-ticket Broadway, and the artist certainly isn’t abandoning pop music. (She started working with Brandon Creed, Bruno Mars’ manager, a year-and-ahalf ago.) But in the New York theater community, Bareilles may well have found the ideal next stop on her meandering career path — another seemingly niche project with the potential for mass appeal. “It has been so refreshing to me,” says Bareilles. “The music industry can sadly be very competitive. There’s not as much of that air of camaraderie, and I’ve been so delighted by that in the theater community. And they f—ing work harder than any of us!”

Seger performed with his Silver Bullet Band at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium on Aug. 29, 1976. “The last 10 years, I don’t think I’ve gone more than a year-and-a-half without touring,” he says. Inset: Seger photographed Dec. 15, 2014 in Detroit.

Detroit rock hero Bob Seger, who will receive Billboard’s Legend of Live Award on Nov. 19, says that unlike Jeb Bush (“he’d make a pretty good president”) and Hillary Clinton, stadium superstars like he, Billy Joel and the Eagles have it good because “people never hate us” BY R AY WA D D E L L

committed to the rock’n’roll life at the age of 16. “All my friends in high school were envious that I knew exactly what I wanted to do, because at that age, a lot of young guys are thinking, ‘What am I going to become?’ ” he tells Billboard. Seger, 70, never looked back, and in 2016, the Lincoln Park, Mich., native will mark his 50th year in the music business with I Knew You When, an album of unreleased songs that he has updated, and, in his words, a “bucket-list tour” of places he always has wanted to play, including the New Orleans Jazz Fest and the Hollywood Bowl. The Billboard Touring Conference & Awards also will honor him on Nov. 19 when it presents Seger with the Legend of Live Award. After debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man” in 1969, Seger spent the next seven years struggling to expand his rabid regional following (built through the kind of constant touring chronicled by his road-weary anthem “Turn the Page.” That changed with his landmark 1976 concert recording Live Bullet, the irst of 13 RIAA-certiied platinum or multiplatinum LPs he has released. His 1977 follow-up, Night Moves, took him even higher, becoming the irst of his eight consecutive top 10 albums on the Billboard 200, while its title track is one of 19 top 30 singles he has scored on the Hot 100. Despite the success of his recorded work, Seger, who lives in Orchard Lake Village, Mich. (“a great place to

2015 Billboard Touring Conference & Awards ride my motorcycles”), with his wife, Juanita, says playing live “is probably the thing I do best,” adding, “The question I get the most is not ‘When’s your next record coming out?’ but ‘When’s your next tour?’ ” The father of two — daughter Samantha Char, 20, and son Christopher Cole, 23 — spoke to Billboard about his diicult but rewarding journey to stardom, his politics and his best road memories. You wrote your first song, “The Lonely One” at the age of 16. It’s a pretty bleak tune. Where was your head at then? At that point my dad had left, and my brother, my mom and me were supporting ourselves with menial jobs. I was selling clothes, going to school half a day and delivering pizzas at night. And then I had a little band that played weekends at fraternity parties. My brother was working at Kroger and A&P, and my mom cleaned houses. It was a tough time, and we didn’t see each other much. I was a shy kid. You signed with Capitol in 1968, left in 1971 and came back. Why? I was there for two years, and I think my manager got really angry with them. Warner Bros. ofered us [a deal], and we did three albums there. Capitol ended up buying them all back. The next three albums [we did for Capitol] were Beautiful Loser [1975], Live Bullet [1976] and Night Moves [1976]. They’re all platinum now. We reeled of 13 in a row there, all platinum, and I’m the longest-tenured artist in Capitol Records history. Why has your relationship with your manager, Edward “Punch” Andrews, lasted so long? I’ve got to tell you — I’m lucky. We’ve been doing this for 50 years starting Right: Seger (right) and manager Andrews in Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1970. Below: Seger promoted his “Makin’ Thunderbirds” song in New York in 1982.

next year. Kid Rock came to me when he had Devil Without a Cause out and said, “I want to ask your manager to manage me. Would you be OK with that?” I said, “Absolutely.” I said, “He’s very opinionated, and he’s also extremely honest, which is tremendous currency in this business. You’ll always get your money.” Did you ever have an argument that threatened your relationship? I wouldn’t say so. We had plenty of arguments, but mostly musical. Punch’s tastes are very ’50s. He’s four years older than me, and whenever we did a ’50s-style song he was over the moon. He loved “Old Time Rock & Roll.” He didn’t quite understand “Turn the Page,” but then he became a huge fan when he saw how it went over. (Laughs.) How did your life change when “Night Moves” hit? We went from station wagons to jets. It was pretty heady, but I always was a worker-bee kind of guy. I’ve done three things for the last 50 years: I’ve taken three to ive months to write songs; three or four months to make an album; and four to six months to tour. It was like that through the ’70s and ’80s. When I had my kids in the ’90s I tailed of for about nine years because I wanted to be a good father.

brothers. W. was very likable, and Jeb How did you spend those nine is not so much, but I actually think years off the road? he’d be a pretty good president. Oh, I was busy! (Laughs.) My daughter was a cheerleader, my son Your peers criticized you when was in the marching band, and there “Like a Rock” was used to score were a lot of activities before that. a Chevy TV campaign. Today, It was something that I thought I artists pursue these should be there for, and tie-ins. Do you feel it was really fun. Now, ARTISTS PICK vindicated? last night my son turned THEIR FAVORITE “Like a Rock” only hit 23, my daughter’s 20. SEGER SONGS [No. 12 on the Billboard She just came back from Hot 100], and when an electronic music fesChevy came to me and tival in Chicago. They said they wanted that love music. song, I said OK because I wanted people to What are your hear that song. It was wildest memories TED NUGENT “ ‘Ramblin’ Gamblin’ enormously successful. of the road? Man.’ Young Bob and They used it for about We saw a lot of nudes, a his killer band were animals. He is a world10 years. I didn’t really lot of underwear. People class representation of want to do it that long, would hand joints up, try our soulful Michiganiac but they kept coming to to get us to smoke them legacy.” me and saying, “This — “We’re busy!” The has [Michael] Jordanthings I remember really esque appeal in our fondly were the sitmarket testing.” We ins. I sat in with Bruce saved a lot of jobs at GM. Springsteen in 1980 and sang “Thunder Road” in SHAWN COLVIN “Like a Rock” saved Ann Arbor [Mich.]. I was “ ‘Against the Wind’ really snared me [in GM jobs? real proud of that. Then my adolescence] and They’d lost a lot of he sat in with me at does even more so as money the year before Madison Square Garden I approach 60: ‘Wish I didn’t know now what that campaign, and the in 2012. My band was I didn’t know then.’ Chevy truck division over the moon. Amen.” was in the black the whole 10 years [that the You and Bruce are “Like a Rock” campaign longtime friends. ran]. I wouldn’t play the Yeah. We don’t talk song for a long time. But a whole lot now — now we play it. he’s always busy and KEVIN CRONIN, I’m always busy. I’ve REO SPEEDWAGON “ ‘Night Moves’ put him If you were mayor of always had tremendous on another level from Detroit, what would respect for Bruce. I’ve the rest of us Midwest you do to fix it? seen a lot of his shows, boys. That silent middle section was such a There’s a terrible taken my family to a lot brave idea.” misperception about of them. When my son Detroit. My daughter’s was young and learning boyfriend wants to get a place the saxophone, [late E Street Band down there, and he can’t ind one. saxophonist] Clarence [Clemons] They’re all gone. All the young signed his horn case. people are moving in. It’s quite a renaissance story. Have you been following the presidential campaigns? Are there any new artists that Oh, yeah, pretty close. It’s hard you’re into? to make a prediction, but I have a I love the way Jason Isbell sings. My gut feeling Donald Trump is going daughter tells me Lana Del Rey likes to drop out. Hillary’s my favorite, me. I certainly like her. though I really like a lot of the stuf Bernie Sanders says. I hope maybe You often refer to yourself as he’ll be her vice president. There “fortunate.” Why? are a lot of things on the Republican I went to [former Detroit Tigers] Alan side, like climate [change] denial, Trammell and Lou Whitaker’s last that I’m not big on. baseball game together in the early ’90s, and [then-manager] Sparky Politically, are you closer to Ted Anderson said, “Bob, I want your job. Nugent or Michael Moore? Nobody hates you.” Guys like the Down the middle. (Laughs.) Of the Eagles, Billy Joel and myself, we are Republicans, Jeb Bush is my favorite. fortunate. People never hate us. I think he’s the smartest of the Bush NOVEM BER 21 , 201 5 | W W W. B ILLBOARD.COM 55

The Canadian alt-star makes a graceful turn to the mainstream on excellent new album.

Grimes, The Latest Mainstream Misfit

ASTRID STAWIARZ/GETTY IMAGES

YOU COULD WRITE A FASCINATING

alternate history of music by following the progressions of weirdos and outsiders who, after a few albums, yielded to the gravitational pull of mainstream music: The Velvet Underground, Yoko Ono, The Tubes, Genesis, Talking Heads, Scritti Politti, Simple Minds, Liz Phair, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and, more recently, Tune-Yards and GRIMES Art Angels Marina & The Diamonds. As Art Angels con4AD irms, Grimes, the alter ego of Claire Boucher, is heiress to this tradition, with a few crucial diferences. If you hear the lyrics as personal, Boucher, 27, expresses wariness in these songs: “When you get bored of me, I’ll be back on the shelf,” she sings melancholically over a clapping, double-Dutch beat in “California,” the state where this Canadian musicianproducer relocated in the run-up for her fourth album. More likely, she’s feinting: She co-wrote a song last year for Rihanna (who reportedly rejected it), which no writer who’s afraid of the mainstream would do. And fans know Boucher regards her tracks as character exercises. She wrote Art Angels’ debauched “Kill V. Maim” from the perspective of Al Pacino in The Godfather Part II, “except he’s a vampire who can switch gender and travel through space,” she told Q magazine. Oh, OK. There’s nothing to indicate this in the song, except for the machine-gun joy she takes in howling “I’m a mobster” and “You declared a state of war!” — a satire, maybe, of machismo and its attachment to threats and violence. Art Angels is a marvel of meticulous, even obsessive homestudio recording, uncompromised by bandmates or collaborators. Boucher produced it and made the record herself, save for two vocal features: Aristophanes, a Taiwanese rapper she spotted on SoundCloud, and R&B futurist Janelle Monae. In the sparkling “Flesh Without Blood,” a celebratory kiss-of with twangy guitars, Boucher uses drums as counterpoint, restlessly disrupting the beat with bangs, claps and smacks. She plays guitar, keyboards and

violin, but her virtuoso instrument is Ableton software, which lets Boucher, a fan of studio experimenters from Phil Spector to Aphex Twin, chop, distort and transpose natural and unnatural sounds. Throughout Art Angels, she equates romance with derangement and disappointment: “Your love kept me alive and made me insane,” she sings in “Realiti,” italicizing the lyric by switching from her usual light and airy voice to something more nasal and choked. She punctuates other ethereal, beautifully produced tracks with images of blood, destruction, death and defeat. Even though top 40 radio has gotten much weirder recently, as the success of The Weeknd or Major Lazer’s oddball “Lean On” proves, Grimes’ album probably doesn’t have a career-catapulting single akin to Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House.” Radio likes a vocal to be shockingly clear and loud in the mix, but Boucher prefers to hide and distort her voice, which is her least impressive, most commonplace tool. Boucher directs her own videos, paints her album covers, exhibits drawings, curates a great Tumblr and gives hilarious and nuanced interviews. Even discounting for the tendency of Americans to perceive Canadians as intellectually superior (Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian, but so were BachmanTurner Overdrive), she’s a canny, analytic, self-aware performer. Grimes is an art project at risk of going mainstream, and Boucher knows it. She closes Art Angels with “Butterly.” Boucher starts the beat, then briely halts it. The lyrics seem to be about deciding to speak up, as well as environmental damage. After an album that’s so happily angry, it’s soothing to loat above nature. Butterly is also the name of an out-of-the-cocoon album by Mariah Carey, whom Boucher loves, unironically, and the song feels like a coy, coquettish come-on from a pop star putting herself up for sale, especially when she repeats the sibilant line “Sweeter than a sugar cane.” But the last sound on the album is Boucher, softly vowing, “I’ll never be your dream girl.” Everything she is, she also isn’t. —ROB TANNENBAUM NOVEM BER 21 , 201 5 | W W W. B ILLBOARD.COM 57

make Meat and Candy, the debut full-length by popcountry band Old Dominion, are almost as revealing as the 11 that did. Warm-up singles “Dirt on a Road” and “Shut Me Up” initially got the quintet on OLD DOMINION radio, but the former was more Meat and Candy blatantly rapped, the latter RCA more boisterously rocked, than anything that ultimately made the group’s album. Hip-hop and rock (and reggae for that matter) still low through the act’s veins on Meat & Candy, only in a more subtle, relaxed way. In the past few years, members of Old Dominion — four guys from Virginia (hence their name), one from suburban Detroit — have had a hand in writing country-radio hits for such acts as The Band Perry and Kenny Chesney, plus two tracks on Sam Hunt’s Montevallo. That record’s urban nuances echo throughout Meat and Candy, more a case of parallel evolution than direct inluence. “Break Up With Him,” the album’s love-triangular breakthrough hit, has lead singer Matthew Ramsey

hitching Hunt’s style of relaxed, talk-sung comeons to elastic soul inlections. Elsewhere, Old Dominion borrows all manner of hip-hop tricks: multiplex rhyming, “heyyy!” chants and twinkling electronic percussion. But hip-hop’s only part of it. “Said Nobody” rides the lightest jam-band groove; “Nowhere Fast” — which refers to a couple cruising the highway, not its tempo — starts with acoustic strums aptly echoing Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” And though the gimmicky “Song for Another Time” names songs from another time by George Strait and Hank Williams alongside ones by Lionel Richie and Katy Perry, red-state signiiers are mostly minimized, give or take one beer can in a truck bed. In every last upbeat tune, a presumably young, unmarried man romances a presumably young, unmarried woman. There’s more candy than meat, but that’s no crime. Opting for a diner waitress in lieu of a band photo on the group’s kitschy album cover and opening with a single called “Snapback” that might require Nashville fans above millennial age to consult Urban Dictionary, Old Dominion cares about coming of crafty, fun and young; country is ine, too, but that isn’t the point. —CHUCK EDDY

SINGLES

COLDPL AY “ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME” ATL ANTIC The ﬁrst peek at Coldplay’s expected swan song, A Head Full of Dreams, pairs a disco-bass groove with ﬂickering West African-inspired guitar licks. While similarly danceready 2014 single “Sky Full of Stars” came of as boilerplate contemplative Coldplay laid atop an EDM beat, this feels like an organic, body-moving goodbye party. —CHRIS PAYNE

58 BILLBOARD | NOVEMBER 21, 2015

J E RE M I H Jeremih

“OUI” DE F JAM Jeremih is a master of the tease, and not just because his album Late Nights has been postponed since 2014. Today’s radio-ready R&B is rarely as seductive, sweet and gentle as “Oui,” with angel-harp piano chords, a delightful Shai interpolation and Jeremih’s falsetto, one of the cleanest and clearest you’ll hear. —ALEX GALE

M U R A MASA FEATU RI NG SHURA “LOVE FOR THAT” I NTE RSCOPE English bedroom-pop artist Mura Masa spent the past two years building cachet on SoundCloud with dreamy synth grooves. For “Love for That,” his major-label debut, Masa comes out of his shell with a swirl of thumb-piano plucks, cello runs and vocals from fellow Brit breakout Shura, whose milky alto sings of reﬂecting on a romance that once was. —S.J.H.

always has gone big on sound and spectacle, matching blowout hooks and rifs with a live show that rivals its on-record voltage. But the girl group, assembled in 2011 on The X Factor U.K. and primped by Simon Cowell to be a female One Direction, has struggled to ind a stylistic through line to make it stand out, and that’s still evident on third album Get Weird. The mood is bright and slicked-back, with feminist anthems that jump from blues-framed pop (“Grown”) to dead-on ’80s pastiche (“Get Weird”) and a cappella hymns (“The End”). The foursome sings ferociously and with expert ease, knocking down boys “like dominos” on the DJ Mustard-indebted “OMG” and getting “busy doing our 50 Shades” on the vamping “A.D.I.D.A.S.” They’re almost too in sync — it’s often impossible to distinguish one vocal from the next. That Little Mix hasn’t solved its identity crisis may further cramp longthwarted plans to break stateside, but at least it sounds like the group is having a blast along the way. —STEVEN J. HOROWITZ

probably should’ve been called My Bad instead of Heart Blanche. With songs like “CeeLo Green Sings the Blues” and an intro promising “a look into my soul underneath my celebrity skin,” it’s clear the Goodie Mob/Gnarls Barkley/Voice vet is mourning his fall from grace after pleading no contest to slipping a woman ecstasy and then tweeting repulsive opinions about rape in 2012. Green’s albums are usually a good time (even 2010’s “F— You” was more singalong than sendof ) but this one is full of remorse. On “Robin Williams,” he sings, “We don’t know what the next man’s going through,” using the star’s suicide to ask listeners to see him as a person rather than a persona. On “Race Against Time,” he wails he’s still a winner even if he lost “your war of words.” Heart may be a measured apology, but Green still has a deiant streak. —HILLARY CROSLEY COKER

Colombia — Shakira, Juanes, Carlos Vives — have reached the top of Billboard’s Latin charts during the past few years. Now, as the Latin Grammy Awards approach, a new wave of Colombian inluence is shaping Latin music, with a rhythm drawing on the sound of reggaeton. The Hot Latin Songs chart has been dominated for the past six months by J Balvin, a native of Medellin — Colombia’s second-largest city — and Nicky Jam, whose hit “El Perdon” was recorded with Colombian producer Saga WhiteBlack. And at the Latin Grammys, which will air Nov. 19 from Las Vegas on the Univision network, Balvin is up

Why is Colombian music hot today? CASTRO Reggaeton has added new momentum to [the success] we all knew, like Vives, Juanes, Shakira. Now, there’s a huge urban movement coming from Medellin and from Colombia’s Paciic Coast, and it has generated a lot of interest from young artists who want to do diferent music with diferent sounds. SAAVEDRA I’m intrigued by how the new urban movement coming out of Colombia is deining new pop. It’s really blurring the line between pop and urban. Puerto Rican reggaeton was a little stuck, and what’s coming out of Colombia is deining a new trend. SKY Colombian music always has been admired and respected, but this urban movement has put the inishing touches on the big picture. How do you define this sound? CASTRO The reggaeton coming from Medellin is diferent from what was happening in Puerto Rico because it’s a little ballad-y and danceable. It kind of joins the two worlds into one accessible sound. This has been part of its huge success. You also have artists like Maluma, who has urban elements with more of a “mountain” inluence, and Chocquibtown, which has a very urban sound mixed with salsa. SAAVEDRA J Balvin’s “Ginza” could be a Justin Bieber track. MOSTY Our reggaeton is less of a street genre. Violence in Colombia is not something we’re proud of, so we like to concentrate on the positive. We wanted to take things to another level. At a technical level, reggaeton hasn’t always been of great quality. And from there, we wanted to compete in another way but with a softer sound that didn’t overpower the vocals. How does Colombia, as a country and culture, play into this sound? SAAVEDRA It’s something that you don’t immediately hear, but it’s there. Colombia listens with its hips. That’s why certain beats come easier to us. CASTRO There is a language and a rhythmic connection. We do have many Puerto Rican and Cuban inluences, because we’ve been very close to that music. Even geographically, given our location [in the northernmost tip of South America]. But it’s increasingly harder to know where music is coming from. There’s so much more interaction and access. But isn’t Colombian music filled with nostalgia and history? CASTRO Oh, yes. It’s the mountains. You always hear the mountains in South American music — in Peru, in Argentina. That’s the root of Juanes’ sound, and that’s what you don’t hear in other Caribbean countries. Where do you think the energy and drive come from for this continuing, evolving sound? SAAVEDRA It’s part of the generational change that happens to everyone. Everything evolves. When NOVEM BER 21 , 201 5 | W W W. B ILLBOARD.COM 61

Backstage Pass / Latin Grammy Preview

another level. When it comes to sound, reggaeton hasn’t always had the best track record. From where we are, we wanted to compete in a diferent way without sounding too harsh, like Puerto Rico reggaeton, which really explodes. CASTRO Reggaeton has become “cool” for everyone. It doesn’t have that stigma anymore. SKY It’s now a little like salsa choke [a mix of salsa, rap and Paciic Coast beats]. It’s something that’s starting to develop. We’ll see where it’s at a year from now.

Do you see new trends right now? “Ginza” [Balvin’s new single] is diferent from reggaeton. It’s another format for the music — faster. Americans will identify more. They’re used to more uptempo songs, and reggaeton tends to be slower. MOSTY We’re also trying to really take things to

Where do you see Colombian music going next? SAAVEDRA The urban movement is still on the rise. As big as it is now, there are 300 up-and-coming acts in every corner. And with heroes like J, there’s a big urban wave coming. CASTRO It’s hard to say. A year ago, radio stations

SKY

How about alternative music. Is there room for that? SAAVEDRA In the Latin realm, I think it’s very niche. There’s alternative stuf out there, but it has to make you move. What I’m doing lately is mixing in more electronic elements, and the sound is less rock and a little lighter.

Sofia, a Latin Grammy nominee for best new artist, has collaborated with Saavedra.

had changed their names and become bachata stations. And in less than a year, it has been a 180-degree turn. But I’m hearing [the reggaeton drum kick] dembow everywhere. It’s what everyone wants to do and what everyone wants to explore. Reggaeton is alive again. SKY The catch-all phrase is going to be “Put some dembow on that.” More than a song, it’s a total fusion of urban and reggaeton. Even if it’s not reggaeton, its rhythmic base has that. It’s the texture that most people want to listen to now.

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Vives decided to record “Pa Mayte,” he created “tropi-pop.” Then Juanes came along with Colombian rock. Maybe the fact is nothing can stop a passionate, hardworking Colombian. SKY (To Saavedra.) That’s true. And the urban artists here in Colombia, they see what’s happening with Balvin and Nicky Jam, and everyone’s motivated — not only in urban music, but also reggaeton. There was a time when that music wasn’t on the charts. Urban music was leaning toward merengue and tropical. And now reggaeton has come back. It has returned to its essence, but with a Colombian touch. SAAVEDRA To understand the magnitude of what J has done, it’s as if Panama, which has never been a soccer power, suddenly beat Argentina and Brazil for the World Cup. It’s very, very big. Pop is the genre that took longest to open the door to urban music. And now, the new pop is... urban.

most exciting and robust part of the music business, where fans go for experiences no digital stream can duplicate. And they pay for that excitement, to the tune of $3.8 billion in ticket sales during a recent 12-month period (a decline over the previous year). Artists drive that global business. But so do promoters, managers, agents, festival organizers and venues. The most successful will earn recognition for their achievements on Nov. 19 at the 12th annual Billboard Touring Awards. Billboard’s Concert Power Players highlights the inalists in award categories based on the attendance and ticket-sales data compiled by Billboard Boxscore. This year’s awards recognize achievements for events taking place and reported to Boxscore between Oct. 1, 2014 and Sept. 30, 2015. The Billboard Touring Awards, the culmination of the Billboard Touring Conference on Nov. 18 and 19 at New York’s Roosevelt Hotel, also include honors based on industry and career achievement. Billboard editors choose the recipient of the Concert Marketing & Promotion Award and other honors. The Humanitarian Award will go Hugh Evans, CEO of the Global Poverty Project, organizer of the Global Citizen Festival in New York in September. And the Legend of Live Award, which honors individuals or bands that have made signiicant and lasting contributions to live music and the touring business, will be presented to veteran Detroit rocker Bob Seger (see story, page 54). I LLU STR ATI O N BY S E A N M CC A B E

Top Tour: The Finalists ONE DIRECTION On the Road Again Tour

An ongoing global stadium swing put 1D in competition for the top tour award, bestowed on the highest-grossing concert series during the eligibility period. The band’s On the Road Again Tour is a continuation of 2014’s Where We Are Tour — which captured both top tour and top draw awards last November. Nowhere was One Direction’s global appeal more evident than the band’s irst-ever shows in Johannesburg on March 28 and 29, where 131,615 came out to FNB Stadium to see the band, for a tour-topping gross of $6.2 million. Richard Griiths, 1D’s manager at Modest Management, calls the South Africa audience “one of the loudest crowds we’ve ever played to.”

THE ROLLING STONES Zip Code Tour

The Rolling Stones rolled into the heartland of the United States for their 2015 Zip Code summer tour. The venerable act played venues beyond the usual superstar circuit. It marked the irst North American stadium swing for the band since 2007’s A Bigger

Bang Tour and coincided with the rerelease of the group’s classic 1971 album Sticky Fingers. Shows outside high-cost major markets allowed the band to ofer some of its lowest ticket prices in years (as low as $30) while “lex pricing” for the best seats still yielded some staggering grosses, says John Meglen, co-president with Paul Gongaware of AEG Live’s Concerts West division, which promoted the tour. The biggest date of all was a May 30 stop at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, with attendance of 59,038 and a gross that approached $8 million.

TAYLOR SWIFT 1989 Tour

Swift’s switch from the country-rooted style that launched her platinum-lined career to the pure pop of her blockbuster 1989 album was followed by a massive tour that swept through North American venues this past summer before venturing into international markets. Swift racked up huge grosses at arenas and stadiums, including $12,533,166 for a two-night stand at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on July 24 and 25. Louis Messina at Messina Touring Group, who, in association with AEG Live, produces Swift’s tours in North America, says the artist “owns the universe,” adding that, whether pop or country, “she’s a walking sizzle reel.” NOVEM BER 21 , 201 5 | W W W. B ILLBOARD.COM 65

Backstage Pass / Concert Power Players

Top Draw: The Finalists KENNY CHESNEY Chesney’s return to the road with his Big Revival Tour, in support of his 2014 album of the same name, earned him inalist status for the top draw award, which is presented to the artist that sold the greatest number of tickets during the eligibility period. Chesney played more NFL stadiums than ever on this tour, breaking records in such storied sports venues as Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia; Heinz Field in Pittsburgh; Target Stadium in Minneapolis; Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.; Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis.; MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.; and, biggest of all, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., where he drew a whopping 120,206 fans on Aug. 28 and 29. The tour, produced by Messina Touring Group in association with AEG Live, was Chesney’s biggest in a 20-year career.

Chesney is a finalist in three categories including top package — which he has won in seven previous years.

ONE DIRECTION On the Road Again Tour

Contributing to One Direction’s tally toward a top draw award was the band’s biggest ticket-selling show on its U.S. stadium tour, an Aug. 5 return to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., where 56,159 tickets were sold. It was the second consecutive summer stop for 1D at the stadium, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan. “Not many acts get to return a year later to play MetLife, and the fans were even more enthusiastic than the year before,” says manager Griiths.

TAYLOR SWIFT 1989 Tour

In North America during the award eligibility period, Swift’s highest ticketselling dates drew 116,849 to two shows on July 24 and 25 at Gillette Stadium, where she continued her presentation of special guests, bringing out Walk the Moon the irst night and duo MKTO the second. While the cutof for Boxscore data to count toward the Billboard Touring Awards was Sept. 30, Swift’s actual biggest attendance so far for the 1989 Tour’s North American run was 62,630 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas on Oct. 17. Such crowds have not been unusual on the trek. Swift launched this tour at the 55,000-capacity Tokyodome in Japan in May and played for 65,000 fans at London’s Hyde Park on June 27 as part of the British Summertime series. 66 BILLBOARD | NOVEMBER 21, 2015

Top Package: The Finalists LUKE BRYAN Kick the Dust Up Tour

MOVERS & SHAKERS Managers and promoters among the finalists

In just three years as a headliner, Bryan has emerged as one of country music’s most successful touring acts, with his Live Nationproduced Kick Up the Dust Tour reaching stadium-illing status. Bryan’s tour with Randy Houser and Dustin Lynch makes him eligible for the top package award, which goes to the artist with the highest-grossing tour featuring three or more acts. Among the highlights of the outing: performances at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. (Aug. 29), which generated a tour-best gross of $3.8 million, and at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati (July 18), with an attendance of 52,019 — the highest of the tour.

KENNY CHESNEY Big Revival Tour

Chesney is a seven-time winner of the top package award and earned inalist status again with two moves. On his own Big Revival Tour, he shared concert bills with Eric Church (also billed as co-headliner), Chase Rice, Jake Owen, Brantley Gilbert, and Miranda Lambert. Also, he combined his own run with Jason Aldean’s Burnin’ It Down Tour for 10 co-headlining stadium dates. During the Big Revival Tour, his highest gate came with two August nights at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., that grossed $11.6 million.

The Billboard Touring Awards tally the grosses achieved by artists to recognize one top management team of the year. While Live Nation, AEG Live and Ocesa-CIE are the dominant concert promoters, Boxscore data also allows Billboard to honor one top independent promoter in the United States and one from an international market. These are the finalists in those categories. TOP MANAGEMENT Maverick Management (U2, Madonna) Modest Management (One Direction, 5 Seconds of Summer) 13 Management (Taylor Swift) TOP INDEPENDENT PROMOTER (U.S.) Another Planet Entertainment, San Francisco Jam Productions, Chicago Nederlander Concerts, Los Angeles TOP INDEPENDENT PROMOTER (International) Evenko, Montreal Frontier Touring, Australia SJM Concerts, Manchester, England

After capturing the Breakthrough Award as a new act at the 2014 Billboard Touring Awards, Florida Georgia Line embarked on its irst full year of headlining concerts. The Anything Goes Tour featured Thomas Rhett and Frankie Ballard, placing FGL in contention for the top package award, and the swing “exceeded expectations, playing in front of more than 1 million fans,” says Kevin Neal, FGL’s agent at William Morris Endeavor. The highest gross on the tour came from a May 9 visit to the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md., that took in $909,470; the largest attendance was 24,967 on July 24 at Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, N.J. (That show grossed $885,651.) Neal credits the band’s partnership with Live Nation and its head of country music, Brian O’Connell.

AEG LIVE

ARTIST GROUP INTERNATIONAL

With successful tours by superstar artists Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney and The Rolling Stones, along with a portfolio of juggernaut festivals like Coachella and Stagecoach, AEG Live enjoyed its best year ever in 2015, placing it as a inalist for the top promoter award, which is determined by total grosses of reported shows. “The teamwork we pulled together in the last 18 months shows a big turnaround in AEG and illustrates what we can do when we play together,” says Jay Marciano, COO of AEG and chairman of AEG Live. Marciano cites the success of The Stones’ AEG Livepromoted tour of 15 stadiums in secondary markets, where the band’s average gross was north of $7 million per night.

Billy Joel’s residency at Madison Square Garden in New York concluded its second year with a total attendance of 460,000, 24 sellouts and a gross of $50 million, but he wasn’t the only star shining for Artist Group International, which is in contention for the top agency award, determined by gross ticket sales. Rush’s 40th-anniversary tour sold out in 30 cities, while Motley Crue’s farewell outing already has played more than 130 dates. And AGI continued to beneit acts brought to the company by former ICM booker Marsha Vlasic, who became AGI president in 2014. “We’re proud to [now] have such artists as Neil Young and Elvis Costello,” says AGI CEO Dennis Arfa. “They complement our roster and philosophy.”

LIVE NATION CREATIVE ARTISTS AGENCY

Featuring J Balvin

Already one of the hottest tours of the past year, the co-bill of Iglesias and Pitbull took on more energy with the addition of J Balvin as a support act and made the tour eligible for the top package award (the sole non-country tour in contention in this category). “Enrique’s U.S. tours have been growing exponentially over the past six years,” says tour producer Rebeca Leon, vp Latin talent for AEG Live, citing Iglesias’ ability to appeal to both mainstream and Latin markets. “Add to that Pitbull and J Balvin, and the combination proved to be explosive.” A highlight of the tour was a three-night booking at Los Angeles’ Staples Center that grossed $4.8 million and drew 46,298 fans.

Pitbull (left) and Iglesias, on a bill with J Balvin, are finalists for top package.

Live Nation, the world’s largest liveevent promoter, had another successful year with a cross-section of touring acts including One Direction, U2, Luke Bryan, Nicki Minaj, Imagine Dragons and Kevin Hart. “We had a great diverse lineup this year,” says David Zedeck, executive vp/president of global talent and artist development. “We’ve continued to provide an assortment of artists with ticket pricing people can aford.” As a highlight of the past year, Zedeck nods to One Direction’s On the Road Again stadium run, which is up for the top tour honor at this year’s awards: “They averaged well over 40,000 in North America. Combine that with what they did last year, and it’s probably well over 2 million tickets in a 14-month period.”

OCESA-CIE Ocesa-CIE, based in Mexico City, had a strong year with multiple-night stands by Latin giants like Chayanne, Juan Gabriel, Luis Miguel and Alejandro Fernandez. But Ocesa head promoter Guillermo “Memo” Parra says the year’s main high note was the growth of the company’s festival business in Mexico, including Corona Capital, Vive Latino and Coordenada. “Mexicans are really asking for festivals; there’s a stronger demand,” says Parra, noting that Ocesa-CIE will launch ive more festivals in 2016. He also was pleased by a successful four-night stand by the Backstreet Boys at Mexico City’s Auditorio Nacional in June. “It’s unusual for an Anglo act to do that many nights at Auditorio Nacional,” he says, adding that the group averaged 9,500 fans per concert.

68 BILLBOARD | NOVEMBER 21, 2015

Booking North American tours by The Eagles, One Direction, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, Zac Brown Band, Pitbull & Enrique Iglesias and Maroon 5, while also expanding further into the EDM market, Creative Artists Agency easily ranked among the year’s top three agencies. The company’s success ranged from “stadium headliners and huge amphitheater tours to an array of new artists who are sure to dominate the awards season,” says Rob Light, CAA managing partner/head of music. “Our team philosophy continues to deliver great strategy, follow-through and passion on behalf of amazingly talented artists.”

WILLIAM MORRIS ENDEAVOR What happens when the frontman of one of your hottest bands breaks his leg ahead of a sold-out tour? For Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters, the show rolled on, with Grohl positioned onstage in a custom-made “throne.” The Foos were among more than three dozen top William Morris Endeavor acts traversing North America, including Blake Shelton, Eric Church, Sam Smith, Florida Georgia Line, Barry Manilow (on his farewell outing), The Weeknd, Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga and Janet Jackson. “It has been an incredibly robust year [with] the growth of the festival market, international expansion, the arrival of many highly anticipated albums and the breakthrough of tastemaker artists,” says Marc Geiger, WME head of music, citing the development of Selena Gomez, James Bay, ASAP Rocky and FKA Twigs.

Take That ranked among the top acts at London’s O2, a finalist for top arena.

Top Festival: The Finalists AUSTIN CITY LIMITS MUSIC FESTIVAL Austin

Ladies ruled the 2014 edition of the 13-year-old festival, with Lana Del Rey, Iggy Azalea and Lorde reigning over the Austin City Limits Music Festival in its second year of back-to-back weekends (Oct. 3-5, 10-12). (The 2015 event will be eligible for the 2016 award.) A inalist for the top festival award, Austin City Limits drew crowds of 450,000 to Zilker Park to see headliners Eminem, Pearl Jam, Outkast, Skrillex, Beck and Calvin Harris. “The most anticipated set came from Lorde, who performed only on weekend two,” says promoter Amy Corbin of C3 Presents. “She delivered an incredible performance that blew everyone away.”

COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL Indio, Calif.

THE GRATEFUL DEAD Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif.

After witnessing the overwhelming demand for Dead tickets in Chicago, organizers added two shows to precede the Soldier Field dates at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on June 27 and 28. “We had to give people another chance to see them, and it made sense to go to their hometown,” says Shapiro. He jokes that the dates were the “biggest warm-up shows ever,” attracting some 76,000 fans per night. The opener couldn’t have been more perfect, he says, recalling the rainbow that arched over the stadium. “I turned to Jerry [Garcia’s] daughter Trixie and said, ‘That was your dad, right?’ She said, ‘Yup.’ ”

U2 Madison Square Garden, New York

The North American leg of U2’s Innocence + Experience Tour — which found the band scaling down its stage production from stadiums to arenas for the irst time in a decade — wrapped in stunning fashion with an eight-night stand in late July at Madison Square Garden that drew nearly 150,000 fans. Produced by Live Nation global touring president Arthur Fogel and his Toronto-based team, the run featured special appearances by Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga, Jimmy Fallon and others. “Truthfully, that eight-show run at MSG was one of the great runs ever,” says Fogel, noting that U2 could have added even more shows. The tour is in support of U2’s latest album, Songs of Innocence. 70 BILLBOARD | NOVEMBER 21, 2015

This was Coachella’s fourth year of staging two consecutive weekends with the same lineup of acts. The 2015 headliners included Jack White, AC/DC, Alabama Shakes, Drake and The Weeknd. That bill led to a record-setting attendance of 99,000 each weekend (April 10-12, 17-19). Coachella, named top festival at the 2014 Billboard Touring Awards, also set a boxoice record with tickets ranging from $375 to $899. “If we sell those tickets,” says Coachella founder Paul Tollett, “we have to make sure we come through for people with a good time.” Fans trust Coachella to deliver: Tickets sold out 11 months in advance for the 2015 edition.

RECOGNIZING VITAL VENUES Throughout the year, Billboard Boxscore tallies the attendance and ticket grosses at venues large and small. These are the finalists for the Billboard Touring Awards in their respective categories. TOP ARENA Madison Square Garden, New York Manchester Arena, Manchester, England O2 Arena, London TOP VENUE UNDER 10,000 SEATS Auditorio Nacional, Mexico City The Axis at Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas Radio City Music Hall, New York TOP VENUE UNDER 5,000 SEATS The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas

Peter Shapiro, co-producer of The Grateful Dead’s Fare Thee Well concerts, knew the 50th-anniversary run at Chicago’s Soldier Field during the Fourth of July weekend (July 3-5) would do well. But even he was surprised by the demand. “We could’ve sold millions of tickets that day,” says Shapiro of the on-sale. A lifelong Deadhead, he spent about a year organizing the record-breaking shows, which drew more than 210,000 fans, making the Chicago event a contender for the top Boxscore award, recognizing the highest-grossing single engagement during the eligibility period. Shapiro says the Windy City — where The Dead played its last concert with Jerry Garcia in 1995 — helped make the run special. “I don’t know if any other city could’ve embraced it like Chicago did.”

Backstage Pass / Concert Power Players

OUTSIDE LANDS MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL San Francisco

In its eighth year, the culinary music festival, held Aug. 7 to 9 at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, featured an eclectic lineup ranging from veterans Elton John, Billy Idol and D’Angelo to newer stars Sam Smith and Kendrick Lamar, as well as an expanded bill of comedy acts. This year’s multi-generational festival drew 212,024 fans and took its irst steps toward becoming a cashless event, with attendees wearing wristbands on which they could preload money for wine purchases. The new technology, which has been used at only a handful of other major events, promises to improve the festival experience from entry to concessions. “In the short run,” says Gregg Perlof of Another Planet Entertainment, which promotes Outside Lands, “we want to use wristbands not only for entry, which cuts down on counterfeit tickets, [but for] people to buy all their food and merchandise.” 72 BILLBOARD | NOVEMBER 21, 2015

Kevin Hart, a finalist for top comedy tour, got laughs in February on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Top Comedy Tour: The Finalists

ERIC CHURCH

JEFF DUNHAM

Church topped the bill in arenas for the irst time on his Outsiders Tour in 2014 and 2015, putting him in contention for the Breakthrough Award, presented to an artist in his or her irst decade of touring who moves up to headlining status in major venues. Church’s double play at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. (Oct. 24-25, 2014) was his highest gross of the period, with $1.2 million, while the Allstate Arena show in Rosemont, Ill., on March 31 drew 18,626 fans — the tour’s largest attendance. Louis Messina, producer of Church’s Outsiders Tour, quips, “We should call it the ‘Insiders Tour’ because everybody in the towns we play are always inside the arena.”

After touring nonstop for seven years, comic-ventriloquist Jef Dunham set up shop in Las Vegas for a 10-month residency at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. That strategy put him in the running for top comedy tour, which is determined by the total gross in ticket sales during the eligibility period. “This was the irst time he had ever been in one place like that,” says Dunham’s longtime promoter Robin Tate, noting that the comedian averages about 120 shows annually. While at the 1,500-capacity theater at Planet Hollywood, Dunham wrote material for his latest TV comedy special, Jef Dunham: Unhinged in Hollywood, which premiered on NBC in September.

5 SECONDS OF SUMMER

KEVIN HART

5 Seconds of Summer rose to fame as a support act on One Direction’s 2014 summer tour and quickly became an arena-headlining powerhouse. The highest gross of the year for 5SOS was at SSE Arena (formerly Wembley) in London, where the band grossed $1.6 million from a total attendance of 31,211 on June 12, 13 and 14. “Every band in the world wants to play Wembley Arena,” says manager Griiths, “and 5SOS playing three nights there on their irst arena tour was pretty surreal.” 5SOS also was a winner in North America, where the Aussie band grossed $1.4 million at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh N.Y., on Sept. 1 and 2, the top gross on the tour. The group’s highest attendance came in August at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre in Tinley Park, Ill., where the act played for 30,609 fans.

“This is the biggest comedy tour in history,” agent Mike Berkowitz of APA declares of Hart’s latest arena trek. “It’s like Joe DiMaggio’s streak — one for the records.” Conirmation of that bold claim will come with a tally of Hart’s inal ticket grosses. But it’s true that no other comic in years has sold out a stadium show, as Hart did on Aug. 30 for a homecoming performance at Lincoln Financial Field in his native Philadelphia. Berkowitz, who books Hart worldwide, attributes much of the comedian’s success to his recent appearances in such ilms as Ride Along, The Wedding Ringer and Get Hard.

ED SHEERAN For Sheeran, 2015 was indeed a breakthrough year. The singer-songwriter packed in 162,208 fans at Dublin’s Croke Park on July 24 and 25, grossing $11.6 million. And a two-night stand on Sept. 22 and 23 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., racked up $1.5 million in gross and 23,484 in attendance for Sheeran’s biggest stateside gig. Messina credits Taylor Swift with urging him to work with Sheeran, and the veteran promoter acknowledges his admiration for the singer. “The guy played three [dates at] Wembley Stadium by himself. They were saying, ‘He can’t do it by himself on an acoustic guitar.’ He did it three times, and two Dublin stadium shows, selling out night after night.”

RUSSELL PETERS After performing across 26 countries in 2012 and 2013, Peters didn’t waste much time getting back on the road with new material. The Canadian comedian’s latest worldwide arena trek, Almost Famous, launched in September 2014 and will continue through March 2016. His ticket grosses during the eligibility period count toward his award status. “It has been a very successful tour iscally and in terms of fan response and turnouts,” says the comic’s manager and older brother Clayton Peters, who oversees his sibling’s bookings in conjunction with William Morris Endeavor. Part of the comedian’s success and growing fan base can be attributed to Netlix. “We’ve seen great results from the specials we’ve done,” says Clayton, noting that Russell’s next special will be based on his Almost Famous Tour. Reporting by Melinda Newman, Mitchell Peters and Ray Waddell.

DOUGLAS GORENSTEIN/NBC/NBCU PHOTO BANK/GETTY IMAGES

Breakthrough Award: The Finalists

NUMBERS: D E F LE P PA R D RETURNS Veteran British rockers Def Leppard return to the Billboard 200 more than 35 years after the group made its chart debut with 1980’s On Through the Night. The band’s new self-titled album arrives at No. 10 on the tally.

Clockwise from center: Stapleton, Eric Church, Little Big Town and Carrie Underwood all had big chart gains after the CMA Awards.

7

Def Leppard is the act’s seventh top 10 release and drives in with 30,000 equivalent-album units earned in the week ending Nov. 5, according to Nielsen Music. Pure album sales comprise almost all of that sum.

1

The set (which also launches at No. 1 on Top Independent Albums) is the quintet’s ﬁrst studio album since 2008’s Songs From the Sparkle Lounge, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200. The group has topped the chart twice.

TOMORROW’S HITS

29

Lead single “Let’s Go” is bubbling just under the threshold of the Mainstream Rock chart and would be the group’s 30th hit on the tally if it debuts. Def Leppard last appeared on the chart in 2002 with “Four —KEITH CAULFIELD Letter Word.” 74 BILLBOARD | NOVEMBER 21 , 2015

A GOOD ‘BET’ Following prior step-by-step

DLow

L ARSSON’S ‘LIFE’ BEGINS Swedish singer Zara Larsson’s “Lush

viral hits in 2015 (by Silento,

Life” (Epic) sits just under the

ILoveMemphis), DLow’s “Bet You

Mainstream Top 40 airplay chart,

Can’t Do It Like Me” (Capitol)

surging by 12 percent to 917,000

continues the trend, as 2 million

U.S. streams in the week ending

U.S. streams in the tracking week

Nov. 5, according to Nielsen Music.

help the cut enter Hot R&B/Hip-Hop

Larsson, who won the 2008 season of

Songs at No. 44. A choreographer

Sweden’s Got Talent, also scales

himself, DLow sets the challenge

Hot Dance/Electronic Songs with

in the dance-rap track to “hit

“Never Forget You” (with MNEK),

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which reaches the Nov. 21 Official

among other moves.

U.K. Singles chart’s top 10.

C H A RT B E AT Smoking Room Halsey debuts at No. 37 on Adult Top 40 with “New Americana,” which features a chorus with a prominent reference to “legal marijuana.” The format traditionally has been cautious with lyrics that might be controversial given its family-friendly focus, but stations playing the song aren’t overly concerned. Most are even eschewing an edit issued by Capitol Records that cut the phrase. Says KALC Denver program director Mike Peterson, “The marijuana conversation is mainstream here, so there may be more tolerance for the lyrics. But [for us], it came down to a great song that we felt is a good fit.” —GARY TRUST

Thanks to the awards show, albums in the genre claim the top three slots on the Billboard 200 for the first time since 2010

ALBUMS

DIGITAL ALBUMS*

DIGITAL TRACKS

This Week*

4,006,000

1,801,000

15,490,000

Last Week

3,796,000

1,615,000

15,355,000

5.5%

11.5%

0.9%

5,795,000

2,472,000

17,286,000

-30.9%

-27.1%

-10.4%

Change This Week Last Year

BY KEITH CAULFIELD

Change

T

THE TOP THREE ALBUMS ON THE

Billboard 200 are all country releases for the irst time in ive years, no doubt thanks to the Country Music Association Awards. The Nov. 4 show, which aired live on ABC, fuels an enormous gain for Chris Stapleton’s Traveller, which re-enters the chart at No. 1 with 177,000 equivalent-album units earned in the week ending Nov. 5, according to Nielsen Music (153,000 in pure album sales). Stapleton won three CMA Awards that night (see story, page 11), including album of the year, for Traveller, released in May, and performed a showstopping rendition of “Tennessee Whiskey” with Justin Timberlake. The CMAs also keep event performer and co-host Carrie Underwood in the runner-up slot for a second week. Her Storyteller album, released Oct. 23, stays steady at No. 2 with 81,000 units, down 54 percent — an erosion that likely would have been larger had it not been for her big presence on the show.

Eric Church closes out the top three on the Billboard 200 as his surprise album Mr. Misunderstood debuts at No. 3 with 76,000 units (71,000 in sales) with less than two days of availability. The album arrived without warning on Nov. 4, hours before Church opened the CMAs with Hank Williams Jr. and a performance of the latter’s new song “Are You Ready for the Country.” Church returned to the stage later that night to sing his new LP’s title track. The last time the Billboard 200’s top three slots were all country albums was on the Nov. 20, 2010 list. That week, Taylor Swift’s Speak Now ruled for a second frame, while Jason Aldean’s My Kinda Party launched at No. 2 and Sugarland’s former No. 1 The Incredible Machine dipped 2-3. Elsewhere on the Nov. 21 Billboard 200, Little Big Town scores the chart’s largest percentage gain as the quartet’s Pain Killer lies 125-37. The album, which features the group’s CMA single of the year winner “Girl Crush,” moved 13,000 units (up 201 percent). Of that sum, 7,000 were in album sales (up 151 percent). On the telecast, Little Big Town also won vocal group of the year and performed “Crush,” which remains 2015’s top-selling country download (1.8 million sold).

*Digital album sales are also counted within album sales.

Weekly Album Sales (Million Units) 2015 2014 15 10

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F

M

A

M

J

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A

S

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N

D

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YEAR-TO-DATE Overall Unit Sales 2014

2015

CHANGE

Albums

199,190,000

187,004,000

-6.1%

Digital Tracks

935,368,000

830,548,000

-11.2%

Store Singles

2,211,000

2,754,000

24.6%

1,136,769,000 1,020,306,000

-10.2%

Total Album w/TEA*

292,726,800

270,058,800

-7.7%

*Includes track-equivalent album sales (TEA) with 10 track downloads equivalent to one album sale.

thanks to a synch in ads for British supermarket chain Asda. “Love” is from the pair’s September EP Where Do You Run.

—AMAYA MENDIZABAL,

KEITH CAULFIELD and GARY TRUST

Anthony (left) and Dover

Nielsen Music counts as current only sales within the first 18 months of an album’s release (12 months for classical and jazz albums). Titles that stay in the top half of the Billboard 200, however, remain as current. Titles older than 18 months are catalog. Deep catalog is a subset of catalog for titles out more than 36 months. For week ending Nov. 5, 2015. Figures are rounded. Compiled from a national sample of retail store and rack sales reports collected by Nielsen Music.

The singer-songwriter holds atop the Artist 100 despite a 32 percent decline in overall activity. New single “Hello” drops by 43 percent in sales and 23 percent in streaming, although it dominates the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week (see story, page 1).

Antisocial anthem “Here” by Alessia Cara (above) continues to place her among notable company as the pop singer-songwriter hits a new high on the Billboard Artist 100 (29-25). Cara gains by 26 percent in overall activity, led by digital song sales, as “Here” hikes by 18 percent to 56,000 downloads sold in the week ending Nov. 5, according to Nielsen Music. The 19-yearold Ontario, Canada, native also grows in streaming, with “Here” rising by 6 percent to 7 million U.S. streams, and radio airplay, as the track improves by 19 percent to 84 million in radio audience and reaches the Radio Songs chart’s top 10 (11-9). Cara should further beneﬁt from the Nov. 13 release of her debut fulllength, Know-It-All. (Her introductory EP, Four Pink Walls, reached No. 31 on the Sept. 19 Billboard 200.) Meanwhile, Puscifer debuts on the Artist 100 at No. 77. The act, fronted by Maynard James Keenan of Tool and A Perfect Circle, is driven by its best rank on Top Album Sales, where Money Shot bows at No. 16 (15,000 ﬁrst-week copies sold). (Puscifer ﬁrst reached Top Album Sales in 2007.) The LP also marks the group’s best placement on Alternative Albums (No. 2) and Top Rock Albums (No. 3). The video for lead single “Grand Canyon” features dramatic aerial desert footage (Keenan lives in Arizona) that complements the song’s soaring, synthesizerheavy production. —Gary Trust

IMPRINT/DISTRIBUTING LABEL

34

RE-ENTRY

Cara Climbs

ARTIST

AIRPLAY/STREAMING & SALES DATA COMPILED BY

2 WKS. LAST THIS AGO WEEK WEEK

“Future-Proof Your Assets” “Most artists have a storage warehouse, a garage or an attic full of Iron Mountain provided the cutting-edge expertise and partnership we needed to feel –BOB SANTELLI, THE GRAMMY® MUSEUM

Presley’s Pair Of Top 40 Hits For the ﬁrst time since 1977, Elvis Presley has charted two new top 40 albums on the Billboard 200 in a calendar year. The late singer’s new efort, If I Can Dream, starts at No. 21 on the Billboard 200, shifting 20,000 equivalent-album units in the week ending Nov. 5, according to Nielsen Music. It’s his 54th top 40 album and follows his No. 11-peaking compilation Elvis Presley Forever, which arrived on the Sept. 5 tally. (Presley’s top 40 albums tally dates back to when the Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular weekly basis on March 24, 1956.) Presley last notched two new top 40 albums in 1977, the year he died (on Aug. 16), with Moody Blue (No. 3) and Elvis in Concert (No. 5). Notably, in 2003 Presley reached the top 40 with two diferent albums, but one of them was a holdover from 2002. The greatesthits set Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits debuted at No. 1 in 2002 and lingered in the top 40 until early 2003. Later that year, the set’s follow-up, Elvis: 2nd to None, debuted at No. 3. The new If I Can Dream was recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and marries Presley’s vocals (from songs like the title track and “How Great Thou Art”) with newly recorded music. The classical-leaning set zooms to No. 1 on the Classical Crossover Albums chart, giving Presley his ﬁrst leader on that list. With the ascent, Presley adds to his tally of multigenre No. 1s: He previously led the all-genre Billboard 200, Top Country Albums and Top Rock Albums charts, among others. —Keith Caulﬁeld

A bevy of acts cover classic Disney songs on the We Love Disney compilation, which debuts at No. 8. The set — boasting such artists as Fall Out Boy and Kacey Musgraves — starts with 31,000 equivalent-album units earned in the week ending Nov. 5, according to Nielsen Music, with 26,000 of that sum tallied by pure album sales. It’s the third top 10 release for Verve in 2015, following Andrea Bocelli’s Cinema (No. 10, Nov. 14) and Diana Krall’s Glad Rag Doll (No. 10, —K.C. Feb. 21).

A deluxe reissue of the former No. 1 album, first released in 1995, prompts its return to the chart with 6,000 units (up 373 percent). Its re-entry grants the album its highest rank on the list since Aug. 9, 1997 (No. 81).

126

STEVE MARTIN & EDIE BRICKELL So Familiar

On the Bluegrass Albums chart, actor-singer-banjoist Steve Martin collects his fifth straight No. 1 album with his new Edie Brickell collaboration. It also grants Martin his third top 10 set on Folk Albums (No. 3).

SALES DATA COMPILED BY

Title

ARTIST CERTIFICATION IMPRINT/DISTRIBUTING LABEL

LAST WEEK

Data for week of 11.21.2015

THIS WEEK

RE

1

2

2

HOT SHOT DEBUT

33

NEW

44

Title

ARTIST CERTIFICATION

WKS. ON CHART

LAST WEEK

THIS WEEK

Traveller

1

NEW

1

Storyteller

2

NEW

22

Mr. Misunderstood

1

NEW

33

IMPRINT/DISTRIBUTING LABEL

#1 CHRIS STAPLETON 1 WK MERCURY NASHVILLE/UMGN

CARRIE UNDERWOOD

19/ARISTA NASHVILLE/SMN

ERIC CHURCH

EMI NASHVILLE/UMGN

VARIOUS ARTISTS

NOW 56

UNIVERSAL/SONY MUSIC/UME

DEF LEPPARD

Def Leppard

1 1

55

BLUDGEON RIFFOLA/MAILBOAT

6

5 SECONDS OF SUMMER

Sounds Good Feels Good

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77

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We Love Disney

1

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88

[R]EVOLVE/COLUMBIA

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99

RCA/LEGACY

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HI OR HEY/CAPITOL

THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

Wiped Out!

ELVIS PRESLEY WITH THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCH. If I Can Dream CHRIS JANSON

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ARTIST CERTIFICATION IMPRINT/DISTRIBUTING LABEL #1 CARNAGE 1 WK

Papi Gordo

1

BEACH SLANG The Things We Do To Find People Like Us

1

GET SCARED

Demons

1

Dealer

1

ULTRA

POLYVINYL FEARLESS

44

FOXING

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55

JERRY GASKILL

Love And Scars

1

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66

SAXON

Battering Ram

1

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77

MYKA RELOCATE

The Young Souls

1

88

THE BRAXTONS Braxton Family Christmas

1

11 : 11 City Of Love

4

Late Knight Special

1

PnB Rock: Rockadelphia

1

Bloodlines

1

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TRIPLE CROWN RAT PAK

MILITIA GUARD/UDR

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DEF JAM

10

99

SHAKILA

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10 10

KIRK KNIGHT

NEW

11 11

RNB3

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12 12

ALEX FAITH

13 13

SHAKILA

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Buy Me A Boat

1

Reloaded: 20 #1 Hits

2

12

THE WEEKND 0 Beauty Behind The Madness

10

9

13

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TAYLOR SWIFT 5

1989

54

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14 14

6

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VOCAL FEW

15

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16 16

TSU SURF

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CECILE MCLORIN SALVANT

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17 17

LALAH HATHAWAY

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18 18

GRATEFUL DEAD

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5

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Money $hot

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Many Moons

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21 21

Cane Hill (EP)

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2

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Unbreakable Montevallo 21

THOMAS RHETT

5 54

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PENTATONIX ¡ That’s Christmas To Me

13

10

27

ROD STEWART

Another Country

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20

28

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97

29 29

RYAN ADAMS

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80s Fundamentals

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32

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ESCAPE THE FATE

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15

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37 37

MUSE

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ANDREA BOCELLI OUT IN IT/MCA NASHVILLE/UMGN

CAPITOL

FETTY WAP PAX.AM/BLUE NOTE

VARIOUS ARTISTS

SELENA GOMEZ

Revival

ELEVEN SEVEN

UNIVERSAL/SONY MUSIC/LEGACY

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GEORGE STRAIT Cold Beer Conversation

MCA NASHVILLE/UMGN

22

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TWITCHING TONGUES

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Daya (EP)

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Pain Killer The Documentary 2.5

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1

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PENTATONIX ¡ That’s Christmas To Me

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Adore: Christmas Songs Of Worship

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VARIOUS ARTISTS The Bach Guild: Big Christmas Box

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SOUNDTRACK 0 Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: Special Edition

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BACH GUILD/VANGUARD CLASSICS/EONE

WALT DISNEY

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MICHAEL BUBLE

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ELVIS PRESLEY Merry Christmas... Love, Elvis

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CELINE DION 5 These Are Special Times

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Christmas Songs By Sinatra

41

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THE BRAXTONS Braxton Family Christmas

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BING CROSBY The Best Of Bing Crosby: 20th Century Masters: The Christmas Collection

DJ Carnage swoops in at No. 1 on both Heatseekers Albums and Top Dance/ Electronic Albums with debut release Papi Gordo. The set sold 4,000 copies in the week ending Nov. 5, according to Nielsen Music. The Los Angeles-based artist sold well in his hometown; the set ranked as the No. 24-selling album overall (among all titles, not just Heatseekers sets) in the city. (The album moved 14 percent of its sales for the week in Los Angeles.) At No. 2 on Heatseekers Albums is rock band Beach Slang with its debut full-length, The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us (nearly 4,000 sold). The album performed particularly well on vinyl as 44 percent of its debutweek sales were LPs. The set also enters at No. 2 on the Vinyl Albums chart. Rising pop singer Daya creeps back onto the Heatseekers Albums tally at No. 25 with her self-titled debut EP (1,000 sold; up 309 percent). The set’s single, “Hide Away,” continues to grow at radio, rising 24-23 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart (up 17 percent in audience) and hits a new peak on the Billboard Hot 100 (80-76). The song is nearing a quarter-million in digital sales; it has moved 224,000 downloads through Nov. 5. —K.C.

As expected, Pentatonix (below) ﬂies back to No. 1 on Top Holiday Albums thanks to a deluxe reissue of its hot-selling That’s Christmas to Me (11,000 sold in the week ending Nov. 5, according to Nielsen Music, up 319 percent). It’s the album’s 11th nonconsecutive week at No. 1, and it’s likely to be a strong seller through the Christmas season thanks to ﬁve bonus tracks. Two steps below Pentatonix is the 280-song compilation The Bach Guild: Big Christmas Box, which re-enters at No. 3 with 5,000 sold (up from nothing in the previous week). The 2012 set returns thanks to a limited-time deep-discount price in the Amazon MP3 store: It went for 99 cents during the tracking week. Elsewhere on Top Holiday Albums, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings arrive at No. 7 with It’s a Holiday Soul Party (2,000 sold), while family group The Braxtons bow at No. 12 with Braxton Family Christmas (2,000). It’s the second album from the sister act, who previously charted with So Many Ways in 1996. Back then, when the group was a trio (Trina, Tamar and Towanda Braxton), So Many Ways peaked at No. 26 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and No. 113 on the Billboard 200. Braxton Family Christmas, which includes sisters Toni and Traci, also starts at No. 27 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. For those keeping score, this is the third Braxtonrelated release to chart on Top Holiday Albums, following Toni’s Snowﬂakes (No. 5 in 2003) and Tamar’s Winter Loversland (No. 8 in 2013). —Keith Caulﬁeld

Little Mix Hits Social 50 Top 10 Little Mix (above) lifts into the top 10 of the Social 50 for the ﬁrst time (29-9) thanks to online buzz generated by promotion leading up to the release of its album Get Weird (Nov. 6). The act previously went as high as No. 11 on the Dec. 21, 2013 chart. In the days leading up to the release, the U.K. girl group used Instagram to share a series of videoclips as well as images counting down to the album. On Nov. 3, the quartet teased a snippet of the music video for “Hair” on Instagram, available with a preorder option for the album. The day before the album release, the act shared weird (get it?) videos on Instagram with the hashtag #gettingweirdwithgetweird. For the tracking week ending Nov. 8, Little Mix gathered 3.9 million Instagram reactions, a 190 percent increase, according to Next Big Sound. On Nov. 6, the group posted a Twitter video asking followers to tweet its “Get Weird Face.” Fans obliged by sharing silly selﬁes, and the act’s oficial account retweeted several of them. Little Mix also asked fans to tweet their favorite track on the album after its release, collecting nearly 399,000 mentions on Twitter, a 163 percent increase. Little Mix appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Nov. 4, performing the album track “Black Magic,” and on Good Morning America the following day, performing “Love Me Like You.” The group added 14,000 fans on Facebook, an increase of 149 percent. —Emily White

Coldplay (below) returns with a surprise new single, “Adventure of a Lifetime,” which debuts at No. 11 on Billboard + Twitter Top Tracks after its Nov. 6 release. The new cut previews the band’s upcoming A Head Full of Dreams (Dec. 4). The British act’s new-music announcement sparked 63,000 Twitter mentions and 55,000 reactions for the week ending Nov. 8, according to Next Big Sound, gains of 738 percent and 7,300 percent, respectively. Coldplay’s social leaps give the band a No. 40 re-entry on the Social 50 chart. Meanwhile, Justin Bieber debuts at No. 4 with “I’ll Show You” following its music video premiere on Nov. 2. The clip fuels 1.4 million of the song’s 3.5 million U.S. streams for the week ending Nov. 5, according to Nielsen Music. “Show” marks one of Bieber’s four top 10 tracks; “Sorry” claims a third frame at No. 1, “What Do You Mean?” holds at No. 5, and his “Hotline Bling” cover races 30-10. The four tracks make Bieber the ﬁrst solo artist to land four concurrent top 10s since the chart began in May 2014. Lastly, Sam Smith posts a pair of debuts, led by “Drowning Shadows” at No. 19. The song is part of a deluxe reissue of his 2014 debut album, In the Lonely Hour, and arrived Nov. 6. In addition, Smith’s Spectre theme song, “Writing’s on the Wall,” enters at No. 35, fueled by the global release of the ﬁlm, also on Nov. 6. The two tracks help spur 54,000 Twitter mentions for the week, up 102 percent. —Trevor Anderson

Cam (above) achieves her ﬁrst top 10 on Country Airplay as “Burning House” rises 11-10 (30 million in audience, according to Nielsen Music), marking a resurgence of sorts for women at the format. She is the second solo female to reach the top 10 for the ﬁrst time in 2015, after Kelsea Ballerini, whose “Love Me Like You Mean It” topped the July 4 chart. The last time at least two women (in lead roles) tallied their ﬁrst top 10s in the same year? 2001, which featured ﬁve female ﬁrst-timers: Jessica Andrews (“Who I Am”), Tammy Cochran (“Angels in Waiting”), Carolyn Dawn Johnson (“So Complicated”), Jamie O’Neal (“There Is No Arizona”) and Cyndi Thomson (“What I Really Meant to Say”). “House,” Cam’s second Country Airplay entry, is from her ﬁrst full-length, Untamed, due Dec. 11. Atop Country Airplay, Old Dominion’s debut No. 1, “Break Up With Him,” leads the list for a second week. The track is the ﬁrst introductory No. 1 to reign for multiple weeks since Florida Georgia Line’s 2012 launch single, “Cruise” (three weeks on top). Meanwhile, Chris Stapleton crowns Hot Country Songs with “Tennessee Whiskey” (marking the chart’s ﬁrst re-entry at No. 1) and Top Country Albums with parent LP Traveller (153,000 sold) following his multiple wins at the Country Music Association Awards on Nov. 4, while Eric Church’s Mr. Misunderstood starts at No. 3 on the latter list (see pages 11 and 74). Also in the Top Country Albums top ﬁve, Chris Janson’s debut full-length, Buy Me a Boat, launches at No. 4 (19,000). —Jim Asker

Twenty One Pilots (above) chart a course to their ﬁrst No. 1 on the Alternative airplay chart with “Stressed Out” (2-1). The Ohio duo previously peaked as high as No. 2 (for eight weeks) with prior single “Tear in My Heart.” “Stressed” also hits a new high on Rock Airplay (4-2, up by 7 percent to 11 million in audience, according to Nielsen Music). Both tracks are from Blurryface, which became the pair’s ﬁrst No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Top Rock Albums and Alternative Albums in June. Wiped Out!, The Neighbourhood’s sophomore LP, arrives as the band’s ﬁrst No. 1 on Alternative Albums, moving 20,000 copies in its ﬁrst week. The quintet peaked at No. 5 on the chart with its debut, I Love You, and with 12,000 sold in the album’s 28th chart week (Jan. 18, 2014). The new set also starts at new bests-of No. 2 on Top Rock Albums and No. 13 on the Billboard 200 and sends six tracks onto Hot Rock Songs, paced by lead single “R.I.P. 2 My Youth” (No. 19). Chalk up another No. 1 for Adele as her Billboard Hot 100 leader “Hello” heads 2-1 on Triple A. The lead single from 25 (Nov. 20) is her third Triple A No. 1, following “Rolling in the Deep” (14 weeks) and “Rumour Has It” (one), both in 2011 and from her last studio album, 21. —Kevin Rutherford

Singer Lalah Hathaway earns her highest-charting set yet on Top R&B/HipHop Albums as Lalah Hathaway Live enters at No. 2, selling 15,000 copies in the week ending Nov. 5, according to Nielsen Music. It surpasses the No. 6 peak of 2008’s Self Portrait. The new album (her seventh charting efort) was recorded at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, where Hathaway’s father recorded Donny Hathaway Live, which peaked at No. 4 on the chart in 1972. Meanwhile, Justin Timberlake’s medley performance with Chris Stapleton at the Country Music Association Awards (Nov. 4) spurs a big re-entry for JT. At the CMAs, Timberlake and Stapleton performed the former’s “Drink You Away” and the latter’s “Tennessee Whiskey.” In turn, “Drink” re-enters R&B Digital Songs at No. 1 with 76,000 downloads (up from essentially nothing in the previous week). It’s his ﬁrst No. 1 on the list. The rise in sales aids a No. 22 re-entry for “Drink” on Hot R&B/ Hip-Hop Songs, where it spent a week at No. 34 (Dec. 14, 2013). Finally, rapper G-Eazy soars 46-32 on Hot R&B/ Hip-Hop Songs with “Me, Myself & I” (featuring Bebe Rexha) following the release of its music video on Oct. 29. It’s up 52 percent in streams. G-Eazy’s “Random” simultaneously debuts at No. 48 with 1.3 million weekly streams and 14,000 downloads. Both songs (from G-Eazy’s When It’s Dark Out, due Dec. 4) have reached the chart despite minimal radio airplay. —Amaya Mendizabal

Global Release Date Leads To Uncertainty In America’s Country It’s a sure bet that at least one Alan Jackson fan somewhere in the United States will wander into a retail store on July 14 looking for his new album, Angels and Alcohol. And that fan will be surprised — maybe even a little miffed — to discover it’s not available, even though it’s released this week. Consumers have been trained for decades to expect new albums to hit the street on Tuesdays, and while other products — including books and some DVDs — will continue to launch that same day, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has synchronized most of the world to a new schedule, with music now arriving on FriJACKSON days, beginning July 10. Jackson’s album is the first major release by a country star to reach the market under the Friday plan, pegged to July 17, while Luke Bryan’s Kill the Lights, due Aug. 7, will be the first country album to hit stores with the support of a top 10 single, assuming “Kick the Dust Up” (No. 8, Country Airplay) continues on its current trajectory.

been predicted. “My plan is to have it hopefully worked through by Aug. 7 when the Luke Bryan comes out,” UMGN COO Tom Becci says, “because it’ll likely be one of the biggest records in country music and all music this year.” The global release date is a direct result of digital music’s growth. Previously, different countries operated with their own standard release schedules. Australia, for example, went to market on Thursday, Germany hit on Friday, the United Kingdom released on Monday, and the United States followed on Tuesday. While that was suitable for physical retailers, it created BRYAN piracy problems for manufacturers in the digital era as rabid British and American fans could illegally download music before it became available in their homeland. “We can watch it pop up on all these sites the minute it’s released,” says Becci, “so we really need to have a global date specifically for the major, major artists. It’s a huge issue.”

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Colombian reggaeton singer Maluma earns his ﬁrst No. 1s on a Billboard chart as a lead artist as his album Pretty Boy, Dirty Boy debuts at No. 1 on Top Latin Albums (3,000 sold in the week ending Nov. 5, according to Nielsen Music). His ﬁrst U.S. album’s current single, “Borro Cassette,” concurrently tops the Latin Airplay chart (rising 3-1). The climb of “Borro Cassette” is supported by a 17 percent increase in audience impressions (to 12.6 million) in the week ending Nov. 8. It also takes Greatest Gainer honors on Latin Rhythm Airplay, where it rises 3-1. Maluma simultaneously reaches a new peak on Hot Latin Songs, stepping 4-3, in his eighth week in the top 10. Meanwhile, La Adictiva Banda San Jose de Mesillas scores its third No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay as “Despues de Ti Quien” jumps 6-1. It’s the group’s ﬁrst trip to No. 1 since “Nada Iguales” crowned the list for four weeks in 2011. The track takes the Streaming Gainer tag on Hot Latin Songs (up 108 percent, to 748,000 domestic streams), where it springs 11-6, also marking the group’s third top 10 on the hybrid chart, which measures airplay, sales and streaming. Lastly, Dominican bachata musician Anthony Santos arrives at No. 6 on Latin Digital Songs with “Masoquismo,” featuring Romeo Santos. The upbeat track blends bachata and merengue, dubbed “bachatarengue.” The song bows with 2,000 downloads sold and is Santos’ ﬁrst time charting on the tally as a lead act. —Amaya Mendizabal

Jeremy Camp (above) crowns Christian Airplay with “Same Power” (2-1). The soulful track, co-written by Camp, is the 37-yearold singer-songwriter’s eighth No. 1, lifting him to sole ownership of the third-most No. 1s in the chart’s 12-year history. MercyMe leads with 13 chart-toppers, followed by Casting Crowns (nine). Camp passes Chris Tomlin and Third Day, each with seven No. 1s. “It has been such a blessing being able to do this for so many years,” Camp tells Billboard. “I am so thankful to get to still be serving the Lord through music.” “Power” is the second single from I Will Follow, Camp’s 10th studio album, following “He Knows,” which led for two weeks in March. (Camp links consecutive No.1s on the chart for the ﬁrst time since 2005 and 2006.) The LP bowed at No. 1 on Top Christian Albums (Feb. 21) and has sold 112,000 copies, according to Nielsen Music. On Top Gospel Albums, Travis Greene’s majorlabel debut, The Hill, opens at No. 1 with 6,000 sold. Greene recorded the 11-song set live in Charlotte, N.C. The album’s “Intentional” topped Hot Gospel Songs on Aug. 1, becoming his ﬁrst No. 1 on the chart, and has ranked in the top ﬁve each week since (holding at No. 3 on the Nov. 21 tally). Two other titles start in the Top Gospel Albums top ﬁve: James Hall WAP’s New Era (No. 2; 3,000) and Trinity Dawson’s With All I Am (No. 4; 1,000). —Jim Asker

David Guetta (above) re-enters Hot Dance/ Electronic Songs at No. 12 with “Bang My Head” thanks to a new version. The original “Bang,” featuring Sia, peaked at No. 25 in December 2014 and was released from Guetta’s album Listen, which spent three weeks at No. 1 on Top Dance/ Electronic Albums. The new version, featuring Sia and Fetty Wap, is from the French DJ’s Listen Again (Nov. 27). The song returns with 18,000 downloads sold, up 1,861 percent, according to Nielsen Music — also good for a No. 4 re-emergence on Dance/ Electronic Digital Songs (eclipsing previous highs of No. 22 and 5,000 sold). Just above Guetta on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Dawin notches his ﬁrst top 10, “Dessert” (11-10). The top Airplay and Digital Gainer, the track rises by 53 percent to 4 million audience impressions and 21 percent to 6,000 sold. On Dance/Mix Show Airplay, Adele arrives at No. 24 with the Billboard Hot 100’s top title, “Hello.” Originally a ballad, the song has received dance remixes from Pink Panda, Dark Intensity and Dirty Pop, enabling its uptempo airplay. Lastly, a legend logs a landmark leader: Olivia Newton-John earns her ﬁrst Dance Club Songs No. 1, as a featured act on Dave Aude’s “You Have to Believe” (2-1). A reinterpretation of her 1980 Hot 100 No. 1 “Magic,” the track also features NewtonJohn’s daughter, Chloe Lattanzi (in her ﬁrst visit to the list). “Believe” is Aude’s 12th No. 1. Remixes from Ivan Gomez & Nacho Chapado, Bojan and Chris Sammarco helped boost the trio to the top. —Gordon Murray

Weeknd Tour Off And Running The Weeknd scores a slot on the Boxscore chart (No. 16) with $2.3 million in sales from the two-night opener on his The Madness Tour, his fall trek through North American cities during the ﬁnal two months of the year. He kicked of the run in Canada, selling out two nights at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre on Nov. 3 and 5. With Travis Scott and Banks onboard as support acts, The Weeknd played for 33,036 fans during the two-show stand. Produced by Live Nation, The Madness Tour is slated to play 20 venues primarily in major markets before concluding Dec. 19. Included in the mix are ﬁve more dates in Canadian cities as well as four shows in the metropolitan New York market: single performances at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan and the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., as well as a two-night stand at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. West Coast dates include Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., and The Forum in Los Angeles during December. Along with new tours just hitting the road this fall, the latest Boxscore chart also has concerts by two artists who recently wrapped multiple-year worldwide treks. Paul McCartney lands two dates on the chart (Nos. 14 and 15) from the ﬁnal leg of his Out There Tour that ended its two-and-a-half year run on Oct. 22. Pop star Katy Perry charts four times with concerts from the ﬁnal leg of her Prismatic Tour that began in May 2014. Her ﬁnal performance on Oct. 18, a sellout at Parque Viva in Alajuela, Costa Rica, lands at No. 27. —Bob Allen

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The musical song adventures of R. Barry Knox about life, love fantasy and fun are available from most music sites on the Internet.

H E L P WA N T E D

Berklee College of Music invites nominations and applications for the positions of Chair of the Film Scoring Department Chair of the Composition Department Please visit our website for more details at berklee.edu/jobs. Located in Boston, Massachusetts, Berklee is the world’s largest independent music college and premier institution for the study of contemporary music. The Berklee community comprises 4,500 talented and diverse students, 630 internationally respected faculty, over 500 dedicated staff, and an extended family of alumni, whose numerous Grammy Awards testify to their contributions to the music of our time. Berklee College of Music is committed to increasing the diversity of the college community and the curriculum. Candidates who can contribute to that goal are encouraged to apply and to identify their strengths in this area.

Be adventurous — check out these compilations of creative musical adventures by the master musical adventure creator. Music In The Pocket – 2015 Remastered Hanging Out Bayou To Broadway on Desert Morning Records & CDs, USA. www.rbarryknox.com

H E L P WA N T E D

University of the Paciic invites applications for: Assistant Professor Practitioner of Music Management (Full Time, Non-Tenure Track) Qualiied candidates should have ive or more years experience in a managerial role in the music industry. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to inform, guide and inspire students while working with a wide variety of partners on- and of-campus. Teaching experience preferred, but not mandatory. For complete details visit: https://paciic.peopleadmin.com/postings/6154

BILLBOARD HOTTEST ISSUE OF THE YEAR! THE 2015 YEAR IN MUSIC ISSUE

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Google: JackBrennanScrantonPa.com – interviews Jack Brennan has worked on “Law & Order”, “Third Watch”, “The Good Wife” and “The Bounty Hunter”. He worked on Stage – TV – Radio with Mr. Show Biz Himself John King Jack’s stage act – He runs across the stage, dives over a chair, rolls out into a karate front, back and round kicks while at the same time whistling “God Save The Queen” With flames shooting out of his ass-

Before turning her back on fame, the Fugees singer-songwriter went straight to No. 1 with the first single from her 1998 solo LP IN 1998, LAURYN HILL, THEN 23,

debuted at No. 1 on the Nov. 14 Billboard Hot 100 with “Doo Wop (That Thing),” the lead single from the hip-hop singer-songwriter’s debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. At the time, it was only the 10th song to bow atop the chart. (Fourteen more singles have since managed that feat.) The piano- and horn-accented “Doo

Wop,” in which Hill sings and raps, was a self-respect anthem, a warning against succumbing to the pitfalls of “that thing,” whether it be sex, money or the streets. The hit followed a successful run for Hill as one-third of The Fugees, who topped the Billboard 200 in 1996 with The Score and scored a No. 1 Mainstream Top 40 hit with a reworking of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly.”

Miseducation spent four weeks atop the Billboard 200 and won ive Grammys in 1999. It has sold 7.3 million copies, according to Nielsen Music. Hill retreated from the spotlight in 2000, citing her struggle with fame, but returned to the Billboard 200 in 2002 with the No. 3-peaking MTV Unplugged 2.0, an album that also drew attention for her between-song tirades. (Her chronic lateness and, at times, bizarre behavior, also marred a 2005 Fugees reunion tour.) Now a mother of six children — ive fathered by Bob Marley’s son Rohan Marley — Hill lives in South Orange, N.J. In 2013 she spent three months in a federal prison for tax evasion. She occasionally performs live and appeared at the Bonnaroo and Coachella festivals in 2014. —AMAYA MENDIZABAL Hill celebrated after winning best new artist at the 41st Grammy Awards in 1999.

On December 4, Billboard will publish it’s annual Women in Music special issue. The issue will showcase the top 50 women across all sectors of the music industry who are creating excitement and made a difference over the past 12 months. This year’s extraordinary talent honorees will also be featured, including Lady Gaga, Billboard’s 2015 Woman of the Year, Chart Topper Selena Gomez, Rulebreaker Demi Lovato, Trailblazer Lana del Rey and Powerhouse Brittany Howard (plus many more). Take this opportunity to congratulate the most powerful and talented women in music and wish them continued success.

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Reinvented from the inside out. Reinvented from the outside in.

Introducing the all-new GLC. Starting at $38,950.* Whatever your vantage point, the GLC is a game-changer. From its showstopping exterior to its technology-filled cabin. From a suite of intelligent assistance systems that think, monitor and adjust as you drive to an infotainment system so smart, it can read your handwriting. “All-new” in every possible sense, the GLC resets the bar for the luxury SUV. MBUSA.com/GLC